Psionic Strength Trilogy: Rebecca's Song
by BooksyTeacup
Summary: In the final installment, Charles and Rebecca Xavier have lived peacefully within the walls of their school and mansion for mutants when an old flame of Charles' returns making Rebecca immediately uncomfortable. Not only will she have to deal with long lost loves but also the fact that an ancient mutant has awoken and has plans to destroy the world.
1. The Xaviers

Rebecca stood in front of the mirror, placing an emerald pendant that Charles gave her on their last anniversary around her neck. In the reflection, she could see Charles sitting in his wheelchair in front of the bed, smiling from ear to ear as he continued a conversation with a young girl. The child, wasn't but four years old as she laid flat on her stomach with her feet in the air. She giggled as her father pretended to cover her face with his entire hand. Rebecca turned around and slowly walked up to them, not wanting to disturb the moment.

"All done, mommy?" the little girl turned to her.

"You tell me, Serena?" Rebecca waved up her hands and spun in a tiny circle.

Their daughter, Serena, sat up on the bed and said, "You look beautiful!"

"I keep telling her that but she never seems to listen to me" Charles put in.

"That's because you're a boy!" Serena turned to her dad.

"Yes, I am a boy but I'm also her husband" Charles chuckled, "Can't I not tell both of my girls that they look beautiful?"

"Only me!"

"Excuse you! What about me?" Rebecca asked in a mocked surprised voice.

Serena started laughing as she got up from the bed and bounced onto Charles' lap. Charles let out a grunt as he smiled to his daughter and kissed her on the top of her head. He started to wheel over to the front door as Serena whooped from the little ride that she's having as Rebecca held open the door. Together as a family, they strolled through the mansion in the morning light as they made their way over to Charles' class.

Rebecca glanced down to the two on the wheelchair as Charles held Serena around her waist in a protective way. He sensed Rebecca looking at them as he glanced back up to her before Rebecca smiled down at him. Charles picked up her hand and gently kissed it before he held it firmly in his own.

Charles turned to the two, "What are you two going to do today?"

"We're going to check on the garden" Rebecca answered, "She made me promise that if we went to the gardens that I would have to play dress up with her. Just as long as we stay in her room then I will be safe. We agreed to no fashion show for the school to see"

"But everyone would love to see you in that pink dress" Serena complained loudly, "Can we do it just once?"

Charles came to her aid as he said, "I believe mommy doesn't want to. Sorry, sweet, but maybe one of the students will want to on their spare time. Jubilee seemed to take up a great interest in playing dolls and tea party. Why don't you ask her after class, hm? I promise you, she will not say no"

Serena shook her head, "I don't think Jubilee ever says no"

"That might be true" Charles admitted.

Charles stopped his wheelchair off to the side as Serena gave one last hug and a kiss to her father. She slid down like his legs were a slide before immediately getting up and grabbing onto her mother's hand.

"We will see you at lunchtime" Rebecca told him.

"Yes, we will" Charles smiled, "See you in a little bit, sweetie"

Rebecca leaned down to kiss him, "Have a good day. We'll try to stay out of trouble"

Charles shook his head and chuckled as their lips gently touched in a slow and intimate kiss.

About an hour later, the Xavier girls walked back into the mansion as Rebecca handed her daughter a bottle of water. When Rebecca was pregnant with her, they promised each other that they wouldn't let their jobs interfere with her life as it did with Charles' when he was young. Both Charles and Rebecca took fewer classes and separated them so one parent or both could be with Serena at all times. It seemed to work so far and Serena loves the attention not only her parents give her but the students as well. She occasionally enjoys hanging out with other mutants and seems to have an open-mind about everyone in their building which brings her to ask one question often…

"Mommy?" Serena asked, "When will I get my powers?"

"I don't know, Serena. Sometimes they come later in life" Rebecca shrugged, "Some people don't have powers at all"

"But both you and daddy have powers!"

"Yes, we do"

"So shouldn't I have powers?" Serena questioned.

Rebecca smoothed out her daughter's hair, "Some do, some don't"

Serena huffed, "I want powers, I think it's cool!"

"And what kind of powers would you like?" Rebecca asked.

"Any kind!" Serena mused as she looked up to the ceiling.

Rebecca chuckled, "Be more specific, more like mommy's or more like daddy's?"

"Like daddy's! Daddy's powers are so awesome!"

"Why am I not surprised. You always side with daddy even when he's not around"

"What are you talking about, mommy? Daddy's not even here" Serena looked up to her mom with huge brown eyes.

Rebecca shook her head, "It's nothing, really. All I'm saying is that you're a daddy's girl"

"What does that mean?" Serena prodded.

"Rebecca, Serena, come over here!" A voice called to them.

Rebecca and Serena looked over to the voice as the two Xavier women walked over to Hank. Serena quickly ran off and jumped onto Hank whom caught her with ease as he lifted her up high and tossed her a few times. Rebecca took her time to catch up before she realized that he wasn't alone. Standing next to Hank was another man with wavy blonde hair gently holding onto a teenager with a noticeable bandage around his eyes, Rebecca beamed as she immediately knew who it was.

"Guess who decided to drop by" Hank turned to the blonde man, "This is Serena! She's the little princess of the castle"

Rebecca wrapped her arms around Alex in a hug, "It's wonderful to see you again, Alex, and nice to meet you, Scott"

"Hmm" Scott only mumbled.

Alex rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, he's always been a pain in the ass. Seems to have amped up ever since he got his powers yesterday. Is the professor around?"

"He is in a class right now but he always makes an exception for new mutants" Rebecca told him.

Hank waved off with Serena dangling on his arm, "Shall we go and see him?


	2. New Arrival

Rebecca waved excitedly back over to Serena as a student named James took her by the hand to lead her over to the arts room. Serena didn't seem to mind as she turned back to James and skipped happily along side him as Rebecca made her way with the others. She has heard stories about Charles and the First Class and thought that she met them all. Rebecca knew that her husband would be more than happy to see his former student back in the mansion where he learned to control his powers. She turned back around as she noticed that Scott was trying to navigate the best as he could with the bandage over his eyes.

"Don't worry, Scott" Rebecca told him, "Charles will help you control your ability while Hank will give you something to make you see again"

Scott didn't answer as the group turned the corner to see Charles teaching his class, "Now, what on earth do we think that the author meant when he wrote all that?"

Charles stopped when he noticed Alex as he smiled, "That's going to be your assignment for tomorrow. Top marks, everyone. Class dismissed"

"Alex!" Charles chuckled "It's good to see you"

"Ah, you too"

"You look well, it's been a while" Charles said as they hugged.

"It has. Not too bad yourself with your lovely wife and beautiful daughter" Alex complimented.

"Thank you" Charles smiled as he looked over to Rebecca.

Alex placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "This is my brother, Scott"

Charles turned his attention towards the teenager, "Hello, Scott. Welcome to the School for the Gifted"

"Yeah" Scott scoffed, "It doesn't exactly feel like a gift"

"It never does, at first" Charles admitted.

Charles glanced up to Rebecca as they instantly knew what was the next step. Rebecca walked behind her husband and pushed him toward the outside grounds. The boys followed in tow as they scouted out a place for Scott to unleash his power. Rebecca moved the group over to the target ranges that were often set up for the students with extroverted abilities.

Charles called to Scott, "The first step in understanding one's power is learning the extent of it. Only then can we begin the process of teaching you how to control it. If you do decide to stay, I can promise you that by the time you're done here, you'll be able to go back into the world and play a stable and productive part in it"

"Why don't you take your bandages off and we can have a look at what we're dealing with here?" Rebecca asked, "Alex, would you line him up? Face him in the right direction to the target"

"There's a target just across the water" Charles told Scott, "When you open your eyes, try and hit that"

Scott hesitated as the bandages left his eyes, Rebecca just coaxed him, "You can open your eyes, Scott. There's nothing to be afraid-"

Scott opened his eyes as a blast of ruby lasers shot out of them making Rebecca jump back and let out a scream. She peeked across the water to see a fiery line through an old oak tree as Rebecca placed her hand on her lips. She turned back to Scott who placed the bandages over his eyes once more. Rebecca noticed that nearly all the students in the field now have their attention zoned in on Scott.

Rebecca heard chuckling off to the side as she looked down to Charles as he ran his hand through his hair. He shook his head in disbelief at the powers he just experienced from this young man. Rebecca couldn't help but let out a huff as she placed her hands on her hips.

"My grandfather planted that tree when he was five years old. I used to swing from the branches of it, myself" Charles said as everyone heard a loud groan before Rebecca noticed the oak tree collapsed in two, "I think that was probably my favorite tree"

"Does that mean I'm expelled?" Scott asked.

"Oh, on the contrary" Charles turned to him, "You're enrolled"

Rebecca looked over to Scott who seemed to have a slight smile brimmed on the corner of his lips before it faded. She chose to use that as some sort of confirmation that Scott was planning on staying with them.

"Do you want to sleep in the same room or separate before Scott gets sorted in?" Rebecca asked.

"Together"

"Separate"

Alex turned and glared at his brother as Hank, Rebecca, and Charles exchanged glances with one another.

"We'll see what we have" Hank spoke up.

* * *

That night at dinner, everyone had filed into the mess hall looking almost as starved as they always are every night. Rebecca glanced around at all of them conversing with one another until her eyes laid on Jean who had her nose stuck in her book and away from everyone else. Ever since Jean came along, she had trouble making friends due to the immense power she held within her. She felt almost sorry for the teenager as the only one brave enough to talk to her was Jubilee, if only Jubilee didn't have so many friends, the young girl would be sitting next to Jean right now. Jean's head slowly picked up as her grey eyes zeroed in on Rebecca's, Rebecca picked up her hand and waved at the young girl, making Jean smile and wave back before turning back to her book.

"You are aware that she can read your mind, right?" Charles asked from beside her.

"I can't help it, I just wish that the other students could see what we could see" Rebecca turned to her husband, "No one ever stays her friend for too long"

Charles reached down and grabbed onto her hand, "She'll find someone"

Rebecca rubbed her lips together before she heard a couple of gasps, making Rebecca turn her head to see that the Summers boys just walked into the room. Alex did his best as he smiled and waved at the children all around as he guided his younger brother to the serving table. Rebecca turned back around as Serena got up on her knees and leaned forward to her parents.

"I heard he destroyed your favorite tree"

"Is that so?" Charles asked their daughter.

Serena only smiled and eagerly nodded as if she had just uncovered something groundbreaking.

"We can always plant another tree" Rebecca suggested, "You said your grandfather planted it when he was five, Serena can plant it when she's four"

"Almost like a tradition" Charles pieced together, "I love the idea"

"Let's do it!" Serena screamed out a little bit too loudly.


	3. Night Tremors

Later that night, Rebecca stroked Serena's hair as she slept soundly in her bed. Serena had fallen asleep almost near the ending of her book but Rebecca kept on reading in case she had woken up again. She placed the book back over on it's tiny shelf before giving Serena her favorite doll she liked to sleep with. She remembered how surprised and happy Charles was to know that Rebecca was pregnant, he always feared that being paralyzed has somehow affected him in more ways than one. She couldn't imagine ever having something split them apart now that Serena was born.

The walls suddenly shook and groaned against each other, making Rebecca look up to the ceiling to see the tiny fairies strewn across the ceiling were dancing again. She glanced down to Serena and noticed that she remained asleep while the house groaned and came alive. Rebecca gave her one small peck on the forehead before getting up and leaving the room. Rebecca felt sorry but knew who was responsible for the sudden late night tremors.

"Not again" a female student groans as she opened her door.

Rebecca only went over to the child and moved her back inside her room and told her good night. She smiled gently before closing the door and making her way over to the other students out of bed. She slowly made her way down the hall towards Jean's room but now nearly everyone was out of bed and glancing down at Jean's room.

Rebecca felt a small pat on her shoulder before glancing up and noticing Hank was making his way down the hall towards the only door that was closed. She watched as Hank opened the door, froze, and then immediately shut it to stand guard.

Rebecca suddenly stopped what she was doing and slowly made her way over to Hank.

"Back to bed, please, my darling. Back to bed" Charles said from down the hall.

"She's doing it again"

Rebecca turned around, "Back to bed, please, everyone. Jesse, back to bed, please"

"Come on now. Spit-spot, back to bed" Charles turned to another child, "Carrie Anne, come on now, back to bed"

Hank opened the door to reveal Jean tossing and turning on her bed, "I've never seen it like this"

"Nor I" Charles agreed, "Don't let any of the children come this way"

"Poor Jean" Rebecca mused as Charles went into the room.

She watched as the walls started to bubble and burn on their own as Jean spun around violently. The teenager had nightmares plaguing her dreams when she first came to the school but after one on one learning with Charles, they seemed to stop. Now as Rebecca glanced around they seemed to have magnetize in size before she glanced over to Hank. He shared the same troubled look as she did before they peeked back into the room. Charles was gripped onto his head, worrying Rebecca as he tried to stay focus on waking up Jean Grey.

"Jean!" he yelled out, making the teenager sit up in her bed, "Jean!"

Jean panted and looked around the room as if she didn't know where she was. Rebecca breathed out a sigh of relief as the burn marks had not only stopped but turned back into the old wood that it was before. Jean won't know how close she was to melting her own room as Charles tried to catch his breath. Jean looked over to the headmaster as if she couldn't believe that she was still there.

"I saw the end of the world" Jean told him, "I could feel all this death"

"It was just a dream" Charles told her.

"No, it felt real" Jean shook her head.

"I know" Charles agreed, "Your mind is the most powerful I've ever seen. It can convince itself-"

"No, no" Jean interrupted, "It's not just the mind-reading or the telekinesis, it's something else. Some dark power inside and it's growing, like a fire. I thought I was getting better"

"You are" Charles told her, "You will, you just have to be patient"

Jean shook her head again, "No, no, you don't know what it's like to be afraid to shut your eyes to be trapped inside your own head"

Rebecca turned back to Hank and whispered, "We should do something for her. Is there some kind of sleeping pill or mediation we haven't tried. She's not only labeled the freak of the school but she's even believing it herself. Her mind keeps adapting to whatever we throw at her. It's almost like it's a form of it's own"

Hank sighed and shook his head, "Everything that I know or researched we've already exercised"

"We can't give up" Rebecca turned back to the pair, "We've all that she's got left"

Together they watched as Charles struggled to place himself on Jean's bed. They always could use Charles to let Jean sleep better but they promised one another to never use their gifts on any student. So far it has never been challenged as much before Jean came into their lives.

"You will learn to control your powers" Charles promised her, "And when you do you'll have nothing to fear"

Jean slowly nodded and then closed her eyes while Charles sat there petting her head. Rebecca and Hank waited a moment longer until Charles moved himself back onto his wheelchair and joined them.

"How is she?" Rebecca asked as Hank closed the door.

"Terrified" Charles commented, "More terrified than I have ever seen her. I honestly don't blame her, her dream was very vivid and realistic. Her mind is a very unique and fascinating thing that it's-"

"Alarming" Rebecca finished.

"Exactly, especially for her age. Her powers fluctuate like emotions of a teenager. It just is unfortunate that an adolescent has to deal with this. It's one of those rare times where I wish I could switch places with a student just to let them sleep better at night" Charles sighed as he glanced back to the door before he said, "Ready to go to bed?"

Before Rebecca could open her mouth, Hank cut in, "Actually, Professor, do you mind if I can see you in Cerebro?"

"Is it urgent?" Charles asked.

"It's probably nothing but with Jean's nightmare happening the same time that a meter picked up an energy surge, I just figured it was something to look into" Hank said before turning to Rebecca, "You can join too, if you want"

Rebecca shook her head, "I am actually a bit tired. I trust you boys don't need me to tag along for a Cerebro trip"

Hank nodded and said his good nights before he quickly left to go to the elevator, leaving Charles and Rebecca alone.

Charles looked up to her, "I will be in our room as soon as I'm done. Are you sure you don't want to go and see what he was talking about?"

"No, I'm sure it was another mutant. Like I said, you don't need me down there every time" Rebecca reached out and held onto his hand.

Charles shook his head, "I always think back to the time you helped me through Cerebro. It helps me knowing that you will always be there to take care of me if something goes wrong"

"I'm glad you pulled through"

"And I have you to thank"

"Well, you can thank me once you hurry up and finish whatever Hank wants you to see"

"I guess so. He can babble on though"

"Yes, that man never seems to sleep"

Charles leaned in as he gripped onto her hand, "Which is why I need you there. He will most likely drag on about his new equipment. I know he is a great friend and all but he always has so many new gadgets that I don't even know what he is talking about half the time"

"I'm sure he won't do that at Cerebro" Rebecca smiled, "He seems interested in what's going on with the energy surge"

Charles sighed, "I hope so"

"Well, don't wait too long. You have a wife waiting for you in your bedroom" Rebecca winked.

"I promise I won't stay too long. Even if it paralyzes me from the neck up"

Rebecca leaned down and whispered in his ear, "You better not"

Hank's head popped out from the end of the hall, "Are you coming?"

"Yes, yes, I'm on my way" Charles called over his shoulder before giving Rebecca a quick kiss as he whispered, "Wait for me"


	4. Morning News

Charles dazed out the next morning as his inner thoughts were running in turmoil just chasing themselves around and around. After figuring out where the surge was coming from, he was conflicted on whether or not he should go. Moira was the only person his mind tapped into and seeing her was almost like seeing a ghost from the past. Not only was he interested in figuring out why the CIA was involved at a place of energy surge but he also didn't want to go because of seeing Moira. Charles glanced up as he noticed his wife, Rebecca was staring at him expectantly.

"Charles? Is everything alright?" Rebecca asked.

Charles blinked, "Yes, I am. Actually… I'm not too sure. I have to tell you something"

"What is it?" Rebecca slowly walked over to him, "Is it something to do with last night?"

"Unfortunately" Charles straightened up in his chair, "I don't know how you would perceive this but I need to tell you no matter what. It could be serious but it also couldn't be as well. All I know is that there is someplace I need to be. I was hoping that you would take charge as headmistress for the day"

"You're speaking in riddles" Rebecca said to him, "You always bounce around the truth if you know it will upset me. What is it? You can tell me"

"You might have to sit down?" Charles suggested.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know how this will end"

"You're scaring me, Charles"

"I'm sorry" he apologized.

Rebecca hesitated before she looked over to the corner of the bed that was in front of Charles. He waited patiently until she slowly walked over and sat down on the corner, wondering what this was about. She could tell from the look on his face that he didn't know how to form his words and explain what he had to say. This only made Rebecca fear the worse as Charles licked his lips and pressed his fingertips together.

"We figured out where the energy surge was located" Charles told her, "It was in Cairo"

"What happened there?"

Charles shook his head, "I don't know but there is someone that seems to have been there during the time of the surge"

"Who?" Rebecca asked.

"Um… Moira Mactaggert" Charles slowly let out.

"Moira Mactaggert?" Rebecca repeated, "That name sounds familiar but I don't remember why. Was she a student before the school got shut down?"

"No" Charles shook his head, "She was an agent who helped form the X-Men"

"She was the CIA agent in Cuba" Rebecca pieced together, "Wasn't she?"

Charles nodded, "Yes"

"I know who she is now" Rebecca got up.

"I have to go see her" Charles continued, "She was the only one there that seemed to know what had happened. It could be valuable information that she has"

Rebecca shook her head, "So what? It was a meter that picked it up, for all we know it was an earthquake"

"Around the same time that Jean had a troubling nightmare that nearly melt her room down, I don't think so" Charles argued, "There is something going on and I just want to talk to her to see what she knows"

"So let Hank do it" Rebecca told him, "He's the one that found out about it. He probably will know what to ask"

"Even if he uses his badge they would notice that it's expired" Charles explained, "Plus, he wouldn't have clearance in that building. It has to be me"

Rebecca folded her arms over her chest, "It _has_ to be. Charles, if she's a human actively seeking out mutant phenomenon, what does that make her? She would kill to show her bosses what we have here"

Charles opened his mouth to speak but Rebecca quickly turned away and ran a hand through her hair. She clearly was upset about Charles seeing Moira again after all these years. He didn't have to read her mind to know that she was terrified to figure out if he still had feelings for her.

"Come with me" Charles blurted out.

Rebecca turned around, "What?"

"Come with me to her office" Charles told her.

"Why?" Rebecca looked confused, "I have classes today"

"Then cancel them" Charles said simply.

Rebecca was so stunned that she leaned on the desk to the side and stared down at her feet. She could hear the motorized rolling of Charles wheelchair before his own shoes came into view.

Rebecca glanced up to his wedding band before she said, "I will go"

"Good. We have to leave soon" Charles sighed, "It's a 4 hour drive"

Rebecca blew out a puff of air before she walked around Charles, that was something she wasn't looking forward to.

"I'll go get someone for Serena" Rebecca mumbled, "Someone's going to have to watch her while both of her parents are gone. Maybe one of the teachers has an off day today"

"There's no need" Charles told her, "I already told Hank to take care of her but only for a short while"

Rebecca stopped and turned to look at Charles. He might've planned on letting her tag along since the moment they woke up. She didn't know whether or not to feel relieved or worried at the moment. She loved Charles more than the earth itself but she couldn't stand to finally meet Moira. She didn't want to start noticing how beautiful that woman was and wonder to herself how their life would've been like if he never erased her memories.

Rebecca nodded, "Okay. Then let me see if I could find a sub or if I should cancel"

"Alright" Charles agreed.

Rebecca opened the door and quickly went down the hallway in case Charles decided to go after her. She didn't know what to think as she felt her mind was frazzled with what she just woken up to. Rebecca knocked on the door of the only person whom she thought would have off as she glanced around at the passing students. Rebecca's father opened the door as he immediately smiled to the other woman.

"Can I have you take over my classes for today and then after take care of Serena?" Rebecca asked, "It's an emergency"

"Of course"


	5. Moira Mactaggert

Rebecca let out a sigh as they finally got off of the highway. She nearly felt like it was forever since she's even seen normal streets. The ride was uncomfortable to say the least, barely any talking from either husband or wife and the radio stations barely made due with the tension between them. For a split second, she thought if this was how it felt for her parents before they divorced and her father moved in to teach his own class at the mansion. She immediately shook the idea out of her head as she followed the directions that Charles gave her.

Rebecca tried to mentally calm herself down as she knew that this was only going to be a one hour visit at most. They were only coming to receive answers and hopefully connect the dots as to why Jean reacted to such an event. They weren't going there because Charles wanted to see how Moira was. He was in love with Rebecca, he had a child with her, and they never had anything tear them apart.

She glanced over to Charles as he mumbled to himself as he glanced down from the map and back up to the streets. She wanted to reassure herself but she's never met Moira before and from what she gathered, she played a key role in setting up the school they work and live at. She couldn't help but feel jealous of the woman of how influential she was in Charles' life at the time.

"You will turn left right here" Charles said, "And then it should come up on our left hand side"

"Alright" Rebecca nodded.

Charles looked to her, "Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet lately. Is it because we're going to meet Moira?"

"Meet, you've already met her before" Rebecca scoffed.

Charles hesitated before he said, "It's a lot more complicated than that. I've only told you so much about what happened. I didn't see any reason to explain the whole thing. I honestly thought that I would never see her again"

Rebecca's eyebrows furrowed as they pulled into the parking lot and immediately went to the front. She thought that Charles had told her everything about the Cuba incident, at least, that's what she thought.

"Why?" Rebecca asked.

"I just thought everything was for the best" Charles glanced out his window to look at the building they pulled up in.

Rebecca quickly got out of the car, walked over to get the wheelchair from the trunk, before she quickly moved to Charles' side to try and help him onto his chair.

Charles waved her off as he said, "It's alright, sweetie"

"So what happened after Cuba?" Rebecca asked, "Did she just leave and went back to her work? Did it not work out between the two of you?"

Charles chuckled, "Honestly, Rebecca, you have nothing to worry about. She hasn't seen me in all these years. She won't even recognize me"

"Come again?" Rebecca asked as she pushed her husband through the halls, "Were you that forgettable? How did you leave things? Any hard feelings?"

"Not likely" Charles said as they entered a busy room, "Everybody take a break"

Everyone in the room froze as Charles continued, "I wiped her mind of all memories. The beach, Cuba, that whole time. It was so long ago, Rebecca before the world knew about mutants. I felt it was the best thing for her"

Rebecca hesitated, "Do you still believe that?"

"Of course I do" Charles told her.

Rebecca should've felt comforted by those words but found his last answer kind of rushed. She didn't want to push it as she glanced up and noticed Moira for the first time. She had brown hair curled to the sides as she focused in on her paperwork. Even from here she could tell why Charles was so in love with her back then. She was very dedicated to her work, loyal to her cause, and not really bad on the eyes.

"Moira Mactaggert, hello!" Charles said as he wheeled himself over to her desk.

Rebecca slowly came in and closed the door. The second she did that, she could hear the commotion return back to normal outside. She swallowed and moved to follow Charles as Moira took the pair in. Rebecca couldn't help but straighten out her skirt as she cleared her throat, suddenly becoming nervous.

"Allow me to introduce myself" Charles told her, "I'm Professor-"

"Charles Xavier. I know exactly who you are"

"You do?"

Charles glanced over to Rebecca as she too seemed stunned, "Of course I do. I have read all of your papers. It's a pleasure to finally meet you"

Moira turned to Rebecca as she lifted out her hand, "Moira Mactaggert"

"Rebecca Xavier"

"Oh, you two are married! Have a seat, just throw that on the floor"

Charles spoke up, "It's wonderful to see you again. To meet you again, for the first time. You've got a son?"

"Yes" Moira answered.

"Does he have a husband? Uh…" Charles cleared his throat before glancing over to Rebecca, "We have a daughter"

"That's nice" Moira said slowly.

"Yes, it is" Charles agreed.

"I'm sure she is just as beautiful and smart as her parents are" Moira waved her hands over to both Rebecca and Charles.

"Yes, she is" Charles nodded.

"Charles?"

"Yes?" Charles looked over to his wife before he turned back to Moria, "Yes, I was hoping, we were hoping that you would tell us about what happened yesterday in Egypt"

Moira opened her mouth, "I'm afraid that's classified information. I don't mean to be rude but how did you get in here?"

Charles smiled, "I have level-five clearance"

Moira glanced over to Rebecca before side nodding and turning around to grab something. Rebecca couldn't believe how easy it was for the woman to trust Charles as she looked over to him. He gave her a glance before Moira slammed down a file that was almost too big for her hands to hold onto.

"Ever since the world found out about mutants in '73 there have been cults who see them as some kind of Second Coming or sign of God" Moira explained as she flipped through the pages, "I was tracking one of them. They call themselves Ashir En Sabah Nur, named after an ancient being they believe to be the world's first"

"The world's first what?" Rebecca asked.

"The world's first mutant" Moira answered.

"I thought mutants didn't evolve until this century" Rebecca said.

Moira nodded, "That's the common theory, yes, but these guys believe that the first mutant was born tens of thousands of years ago and they believe he will rise again. They've been searching ancient sites all around the world for clues. These hieroglyphs describe a specific set of powers greater than any man could possess"

Charles finally spoke up, "They think he lived all that time?"

Moira said, "Yes and no, they believe he had the ability to transfer his consciousness from body to body and whenever he was close to death he would just take on a new body. Some of these may have been the bodies of mutants enabling him to take their powers amassing various abilities over the years"

"An all-powerful mutant"

"Exactly" Moira took out pictures of four humans throughout time, "And wherever this being was he always had four principle followers. Disciples. Protectors he would imbue with powers"

Rebecca folded her arms over her chest, "Like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He got that one from the bible"

"Or the bible got it from him" Moira suggested, "And wherever he ruled, eventually, it would end in disaster, cataclysm, some kind of apocalypse"

Charles mused, "The end of the world"

Charles and Rebecca both looked to each other as their minds immediately went back to last night and Jean's nightmare. It wasn't just a nightmare but it must've been a powerful vision, something she sensed.

"Rebecca"

"No" Rebecca disagreed.

"We have to" Charles kept on, "This is much bigger than some mere meter reading and nightmare. This could be the end of the world. I hate to say it but Jean may be right"

Rebecca leaned in, "Then let's deal with it ourselves"

"We can't" Charles shook his head, "She's the only person who knows about this more than us. We would be walking blindly into a trap for all we know. We have to bring Moira back to our home. She could possibly help us figure all of this out"

"I'm sorry" Moira cut in, "But where are we saying that I'm going?"

"To the School for the Gifted, our home" Charles said, "We need you to help us connect a few dots. Please, go and tell your boss you will be out of the office for the day"

"Okay" Moira said as she walked out of her office and left under Charles' control.

"Are you out of your mind?" Rebecca got up and faced her husband.

Charles glanced back to her, "We need her at the Mansion"

Rebecca scoffed and shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips.

"What will happen if she sees something she doesn't like at our school?" Rebecca slowly asked.

"She's always been fascinated by mutants" Charles disagreed.

"So I've noticed" Rebecca told him, "Do you remember who else was fascinated by mutants? Trask"

"She's not like that"

"How do you know that?" Rebecca badgered on.

"Because I know her and you're not giving her the chance" Charles tried to reason, "You're starting to sound like Erik"

"Well, Erik was right about one thing; protecting our kind, protecting the children at our home from anyone who would expose them" Rebecca argued, "Protecting our daughter"

"Our daughter does not have any powers within her that we know of" Charles told her.

"And what makes you think that Moira won't send a letter off to foster care after noticing a four year old is living in a house where kids and teenagers are trying to learn to control their powers?" Rebecca continued, "They will take her away and you will have your high school sweetheart left to thank"

Moira opened the door with a bright smile, "Okay, I am ready!"

"Excellent, it's going to be a long drive" Charles said without breaking eye contact with Rebecca.

"Did I miss something?" Moira asked.

"You always seem to" Rebecca said as she turned and marched out of the door.

Charles shook his head, "Don't mind her"

Moira glanced over, "Is there some sort of problem?"

"No" Charles said.

"She doesn't want me there, does she" Moira pieced together.

"Rebecca is very protective of the children in our school" Charles explained, "She loves each and everyone of them like they were her own"

"Sounds like you picked the perfect woman to stay there with you" Moira smiled.

"I sleep better at night knowing that she is under the same roof as them" Charles agreed.

"Well, we better go after her or else she might leave without us" Moira pointed to where Rebecca had left, "I highly doubt she will want to wait long knowing there are kids back home"

Charles nodded as he wheeled himself out of Moira's office so that the woman could lock it behind him. He understood that Rebecca didn't want to see anyone from his past and he would understand as well if the situation changed. But this wasn't about the married couple, this was about something far more bigger. A part of him hoped that this was all just a false alarm so Rebecca wouldn't have to worry so much. But deep in his gut, he knew something dreadful was about to happen.

"I am going to have a very long day today" Charles mumbled.

"Did you say something?"

"No" Charles chuckled.

"Oh!" Moira said, "Well, let's hurry. I can't wait to see your school"


	6. Car Ride Home

The ride back seemed to have gone a lot faster than Rebecca had anticipated. She was stuck on believing that she would be stuck in traffic with Moira and Charles while they had a grand old time. Luckily, time was on their side and they swept through the highway like a breeze and before they knew it, Westchester County came up. Rebecca actually found a new reason to want to get out of the car more than anything now and it wasn't just the fact that Moira was an ex-flame. It was more on the subject that Charles was actually right about Moira.

All throughout the ride home, Moira could not shut up about the talk of mutants as if Rebecca wasn't married to the professor already. She kept going on and on about things Rebecca knew, things she didn't, and things she had no interest of knowing. She couldn't help but notice every once in awhile Charles would glance over to Rebecca in hopes of catching her look at him as well. Rebecca knew what her husband wanted to say and kept her eyes glued on the road, rearview, and side mirrors, but that didn't stop him.

Rebecca heard Charles' voice whisper in her head, " _I told you so"_

Rebecca only let out a low grumble so Moira couldn't hear but Charles clearly could as he chuckled and glanced out the window. If she was excited about going to the mansion, she probably would have her mind blown to millions of pieces when she finds out about everyone's individual power. Rebecca's always wanted to find someone who didn't think less of mutants but now she wondered how she could possibly bite the bullet on this one.

One thing seemed to have come up in her mind more than once; it was that Moira had no feelings for Charles at all. It almost made her comfortable to know that all of that was in her own head.

" _Is there a way you can make her take a nap for the rest of the trip?"_ Rebecca finally answered.

Charles replied, " _We're almost at the mansion anyways. Don't worry, sweetie, she'll most likely stop by the time we've reached there. Besides, I think it might be good for Serena to see Moira, one non-mutant to another"_

" _Let's just hope that Serena doesn't turn out to be like her"_ Rebecca mentally joked.

Charles smiled, " _No, I think she won't. She seems to play a more important role in all of this. If she doesn't have powers, she will grow up to learn to understand that mutants are no different than humans. She can be an advocate to our kind that I hope others will listen to. Serena will have more of an understanding than most that all we want to do is simply fit in. That is the path that I hope our daughter takes"_

" _You honestly think she will go into politics to advocate for mutant rights?"_ Rebecca asked.

" _I've always hoped"_ Charles told her, " _I've always dreamed of having just one non-mutant know that we mean no harm-"_

"I can't believe I'm actually going to go to the mansion" Moira shook her head and looked up to the roof, "Which reminds me, you both never told me your abilities. There are so many to choose from that I'm not even too sure if I could pick right on which abilities you have"

Rebecca shifted, "I have a set of three abilities that expanded from each other. I have super strength, stone manipulation, and I can communicate with any animal. It was a lot to take in but luckily I had my father there to help me. Granted, he only has super strength and stone manipulation but it wasn't like you couldn't control talking to animals"

Charles reached out and gripped onto Rebecca's hand, it was the first time she opened up and actually talked to Moira since she's been in the car.

"How masculine" Moira complimented, "Which makes complete and total sense, if you ask me considering how your looks and appearances are so feminine that maybe your powers contracted the opposite"

Charles hissed in a small piece of air as he turned his attention back over to the window at the trees passing by. He forgot about this side of Moira; never knowing what sounds like a compliment and what sounds like an insult. In this case, she must've hit rock bottom with his wife as he knew more than anyone that Rebecca hates to be reminded at how manlike her powers were. He took this chance to steal a glance over to her as Rebecca formed her jaw as he knew she was trying her best not to break the steering wheel. Charles stiffened as he realized that they went from square two to negative square six.

Moira turned to Charles, "And what about you?"

Charles let out a nervous laugh as he didn't know quite what to say. He really wished that Moira would've changed the subject but now the question was on him. He just hoped that Moira would say something impulsive as well about his own powers. Something that would make Rebecca feel not so insulted of what she had just said.

"Not that many" Charles let out dryly, "Just about all forms of mental abilities; telepathy, mind linking, and more but we won't have time. It's really not that much in variety as Rebecca's. She's actually-"

"We have time, tell me more!" Moira scooted herself up in her seat.

"Wh- What?"

Moira continued, "Are you an Alpha-Level mutant?"

"Well, um, yes but I don't prefer levels. Each mutant is just as important as the next" Charles quickly stated.

Rebecca rolled her eyes as of course Moira would know the levels of mutant abilities. It wouldn't be surprising if she knew what chromosome affected what in their body. After thinking that, Rebecca suddenly realized that Moira just might already know that information.

"Oh don't be so modest!" Moira waved off, "Your wife already knows how powerful you are! Why not boast about it?"

Charles shook his head, "I tend to try to not do that"

"What do you say, Rebecca. Since he's not talking about his powers, why don't you?" Moira turned her attention to the driver, "What other powers does he have that makes him an alpha level mutant"

"Tons of things; he can mentally camouflage himself and others, absorb information… erase memories" Rebecca responded.

Moira gawked, "Really?"

Rebecca nodded, "Among others but he's right, it would take all day for us to talk about his powers and we're already at the mansion"

Moira gasped as she looked out of her window as the mansion come into view. Rebecca couldn't help but breathe out a silent relief that now she can stop talking about mutants for the rest of the day.

"I've read so much about this place" Moira gawked.

Charles looked over to Rebecca as he realized she looked just about ready to grab a pillow and scream into it.

"But being here, it actually seems kind of… familiar" Moira chuckled, "Strange"

Charles glanced over to Rebecca, "Quite, shall we?"

Rebecca groaned as she said to her husband, " _Never in my life have I ever wanted to hear someone_ _ **not**_ _talk about mutants"_


	7. Reunion

Rebecca walked through the mansion and to Charles' office just as she noticed the children were coming out of her classroom. She glanced over to Charles as Moira was asking a question, Rebecca veered off to the side so she could thank her father for teaching her class for the day. She smiled and said her hellos to her students before she noticed that some of the girl's had their heads close together and were gushing and whispering to one another. Rebecca glanced up and was completely surprised to see Alex Summers had closed the door behind her classroom and locked it before turning around and untieing an apron off of himself. The Xavier's exchanged surprised glances before Alex looked up and smiled to the trio.

Charles said, "Alex, I didn't know you could cook! I thought Rebecca had her father cooking for the day"

"She did but I stepped in. I picked up on a few things after I came back from the war" Alex explained as he wiped his hands with a towel.

"Would you like to join us in Charles' office?" Rebecca motioned toward the room.

Alex waved out his hand as Charles turned and wheeled himself towards the office. Moira turned to Alex and eagerly greeted him before Alex could say a word. Alex seemed stunned but went along with it as he quickly shook her hand and greeted her as well. Rebecca breathed out a sigh of relief as Charles went into his office.

"Hank, you in here? I'd like you to meet-" Charles stopped as soon as he came in.

Raven got up from her seat, "Moira"

"Raven" Charles said almost as if he couldn't believe she was there.

"I knew there was something I was forgetting" Alex mumbled.

Moira smiled brightly, "I'm sorry, have we met?"

Charles stammered, "Uh… Hank, Alex, Rebecca, Agent Mactaggert would you give us just one moment please?"

"Of course" Rebecca told him as Charles looked up and smiled to her, he reached out and kissed Rebecca's hand before the group turned and left.

Raven waited until the door closed before she asked, "Charles, why didn't she recognize me? She knew me in this form"

"Well, after you left me on the beach in Cuba, I took her memories of that time. Have a seat"

"Lucky girl" Raven commented, "Not as lucky as the woman who you kissed just right now"

Charles couldn't help but smile, "I believe you two met, but during that time she wasn't my wife"

"You're married?" Raven let out, "Why wasn't I invited?"

Charles chuckled, "Forgive me but you're kind of hard to find and I didn't want to use Cerebro to invade your personal space"

Raven shrugged, "I guess you're right about that. Still… I would've put my differences aside and attend. You're like a brother to me, I would've wanted to see you happy on your wedding day"

"I know" Charles sighed, "That was my only regret… that and you never meeting Serena"

"Whose Serena?" Raven asked.

"My daughter" Charles told her.

"You have a daughter too!" Raven yelled out, "Does she have any powers?"

"None that we know of but Rebecca and I don't care about that" Charles answered.

"That's good… before I leave I want to see her" Raven said as she couldn't help but suppress a smile for her big brother.

"I told you, you missed out on a lot" Charles smiled, "It's good to see you, Raven. Welcome home"

"This isn't my home"

Charles looked at her, "It was once"

"No, it was your home, I just lived here" Raven commented, "And I barely even recognize it now"

"You know, I have plans for this place" Charles wheeled himself over to the window, "I mean to turn it into a real campus. A university. Not just for mutants, either, for humans too. Living and working, growing together"

Raven stared at him before she said, "You know, I really believed that once. I really believed that we could change them after DC"

"We did" Charles told her.

"No, Charles. They still hate and fear us, it's just harder to see because they're more polite about it" Raven corrected him, "I got sick of living that lie"

Charles looked to her closely, "And that's why you're not in your natural blue form"

"I'm not gonna be the face of a world that doesn't exist" Raven rolled her eyes.

"Things are better, the world is better" Charles tried again.

Raven didn't let down, "Maybe in Westchester. Out there, mutants are still running, hiding, living in fear. Just because there's not a war, doesn't mean there's peace. You want to teach your kids something, teach them that. Teach them to fight. Otherwise they might as well live in this house for the rest of their lives"

Charles swallowed hard as he said, "You still sound just like him. You sound just like Erik"

Raven hesitated as she said, "That's why I'm here. He's resurfaced. He had a wife and child, they were killed along with a handful of policemen"

Charles let out a sigh and somberly shook his head as he could only imagine what turmoil his old friend was in. He knew that if someone had even thought about hurting Rebecca or Serena, he would leave that person in a vegetable state for the rest of their lives and he was a pacifist. He knew that Erik was now on the run from nearly everyone he would've kept in contact with.

Charles said, "The whole world will be looking for him"

"But you can help me find him before they do" Raven told him.

* * *

The doors whirred open as a lights illuminated towards a desk with a dome, the room had nothing but blue plates around the circle. Rebecca walked in after her husband and Hank over to Cerebro as Alex, Raven, and Moira trailed in after her.

Charles called over his shoulder, "Moira, I'm going to have to ask you to keep this a secret"

"I don't even know what this is" Moira said from the very back.

"It's Cerebro" Raven answered, "The new model"

"I based the color on…" Hank stopped and looked over to Raven, "It doesn't matter"

Cerebro echoed as Charles placed the helmet over his head and in an instant the room flashed a white light before millions of people flew by everyone.

Rebecca turned around and watched as Alex looked around in amazement while Raven and Moira were nearly on the floor with wide-eyes. Rebecca couldn't help but smile as she turned her attention back over to her husband. She always wondered why they never brought people down to Cerebro often just for the sake of seeing their faces and reactions. The moment died as she remembered what Charles told her about Erik and why they were searching for him. She looked down to her husband as she wondered what would've happened if something ever happened to her or Serena.

"What are those?" Moira asked.

"These are all the humans in the world" Rebecca said.

She looked around at everyone flying by, crystal white lights illuminating their bodies as no one seemed to noticed they were connected to Charles right now. Rebecca glanced around as she wondered if she could ever spot her mother or her brother in the many faces. Before she could even try, the people became lesser as some turned red as they went along with their day. Rebecca looked around at all of the bodies surrounding them, knowing who they were.

"And these are all the mutants" Charles finished for her, "I'm connected to all of their minds"

"The CIA would kill for this" Moira chuckled.

"I know they would" Charles said in a dark tone before he focused, "Where are you, Erik?"

"Hello, old friend" Charles said before he let out a shuddering breath, "I'm sorry. I am so sorry! I feel your pain and your loss"

"What happened to them, it was terribly wrong" Charles told him after Erik had answered, "But come back to us. I can help you"

"Think of your wife, think of your daughter" Charles lifted up his hand as Rebecca held onto it, "What would they have wanted?"

Charles stopped and listened to what Erik had to say before his grip lessened on Rebecca's hand as he slowly stiffened up. She watched as her husband almost seemed uncomfortable with what Erik was saying to him. Charles swallowed as he moved his head slightly to the side where Hank was on the other side of him.

"Hank… he's not alone"

Rebecca only had looked over to Hank before Cerebro's coordinates went haywire. She furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why Charles was leaving so fast.

"Hey, Charles, wait" Hank said.

"Oh, my God" Charles shuddered.

Suddenly, Cerebro went from red and dotted with mutants to a strange bright purple illuminating everywhere.

Rebecca didn't like it as she bent down, "Charles, what's happening?"

"I've never felt power like this before" Charles said in a strange tone as his pupils dilated until they were completely black.

"Charles… Charles, get out of there" Hank warned.

Rebecca turned to Hank, "What's going on? What's happening?"

"I think… someone's taken over Cerebro" Hank answered, "They've taken control of it"

"To do what?"

"To connect" Hank answered.

Rebecca didn't like the way Hank said those last words as he went back to the console as he tried to find a way to take it back into control for themselves. She turned Charles slightly and knelt down in front of her husband. His eyes were still black and in a far off look with a strange smile on his face. She's been married to Charles for six years, she knows all of the smiles he possesses but this one seemed foreign on his face. It almost scared her how he didn't even react to Rebecca placing her hands within his anymore.

Rebecca whispered, "Come back to me"

"Is there an emergency plug?" Alex moved closer to Hank, "Anything that would shut Cerebro down?"

Hank shook his head, "I wish it were that easy but now Cerebro and Charles are connected. I could really hurt Charles if I destroy Cerebro. We can't take that risk unless it's absolutely necessary"

Rebecca glanced up as Hank shared a serious look with her. She immediately knew what he was saying; he didn't want to do anything unless Rebecca gave permission. Rebecca turned back to her husband as she knew she had to try and reach him. She got up onto her knees and places her hands on his shoulders as she rubbed his arms up and down.

"Charles, listen to me. I know you're still in there, you have to find a way to fight this" Rebecca said to him, "Think about Serena, fight for her"

He didn't answer which made Rebecca panic, "Charles!"

Before she even knew what was happening, Hank reached out to take off Charles' helmet but a loud zap surrounded them. Rebecca jumped as Charles broke from his frozen state only to scream in agony. Raven reached out and held onto her brother for some sort of support as tears sprang to Rebecca's eyes.

"Hank!" Raven yelled to him.

"We don't know what the hell is going on and who is controlling Cerebro" Hank argued, "For all we know, they could be finishing off what Shaw couldn't"

"That doesn't matter, what matters is Charles is stuck inside Cerebro" Rebecca told them.

Hank panicked as he said, "Charles is a pawn"


	8. Kidnapped

"Hank do something!"

Hank glanced over to Raven before he started to punch and pry open the console for Cerebro. Rebecca moved to get up and help him when a hand reached out and grabbed a hold of her. She looked down to see Charles' blue eyes staring back at her as he groaned under some sort of pressure no one could experience. Rebecca knelt back down as Charles squeezed onto her as hard as he could, knowing he couldn't hurt her. Charles let out a scream of agony as Rebecca tried to calm him down but nothing seemed to work.

"It won't shut down!"

"Who could possibly be doing this?" Rebecca shouted out in frustration.

Alex ran a hand through his hair, "I thought Charles was the strongest telepath, this mutant is doing it outside of Cerebro"

Rebecca turned to Charles, "What do we have to do?"

"There's nothing we can do" Hank let out, "Charles is trapped in a mental link and Cerebro refuses to shut down"

Rebecca turned to Hank, "There has to be something we haven't tried yet. Something that this… thing can't control or access"

"Like what?" Raven asked.

"Alex…"

"What?"

"Destroy it!" Charles said through gritted teeth, "Destroy everything. Destroy Cerebro!"

Charles let out another agonizing yell as he moved one hand to grab onto the helmet but Rebecca grabbed it and pulled his hand down into her own hands. She didn't want him to get electrocuted no matter how difficult the pain he was already in. Rebecca turned around to see Alex placed himself in front of the console, looking around. He didn't know where to aim or where would be the better place to blast.

Charles leaned over and grunted, "Wreak havoc!"

Alex didn't wait as he turned around and fired out a ruby laser from his chest, both of them screamed out. Charles leaned back as he tried his best not to tell Alex to stop and focused more on Rebecca's hands in his as she tried to comfort him. He felt the mental pull from his brain stretched so far that he was afraid it would snap and make him go into a coma.

Rebecca reached over and kissed Charles' hands as tears streaked down her cheeks, not wanting to hear her husband be in pain. She looked over her shoulder as she realized that Alex was shooting out ruby blasts from both of his hands and his chest.

"Stay with me" Rebecca pleaded to her husband.

She watched in horror as Charles' eyes were wide from what he was seeing mentally, the pain was no longer affecting him or affecting him too much that he became numb.

Behind her, Alex let out one final yell before he stopped and leaned back onto the console. Rebecca looked around as the purple lights faded away to Cerebro up in flames. She wasted no time as she pulled the helmet off of her husband and quickly pushed him out to the hallway while Raven went and helped Alex out as well. Once they were in the brightness of the next room, Rebecca knelt down and cupped Charles' head within her hands as she moved his head up to look at her. Her breath got caught in her throat as she realized that his face and body were limp as he didn't respond to her touch at all.

"Charles, are you okay?" Rebecca asked.

Everyone knelt down to the man but he didn't make a sound both physically or mentally to let her know he was okay. Something behind Charles caught Rebecca's eye as she slowly rose up to see what it was. Some kind of purple orb was rumbling down the hallway before it faded away and five people stood there facing them. They all didn't look familiar until Rebecca's eyes went to the last one, making the woman gasp.

Raven whispered, "Erik"

Everyone was completely stunned by seeing Erik there that they weren't ready for when Erik lifted up his hands and Charles' wheelchair levitated from the ground. Rebecca gasped as she leaned down to try and hold onto Charles but Erik moved him right out of her grasp just in time. Panic and fear blinded her as she ran after her unconscious husband, each step she took felt like Charles doubled the distance away from her.

"Charles!" Rebecca screamed at the top of her lungs.

Rebecca's feet flew up from under her as she stumbled and slammed herself down hard on her knees. She let out a yelp as she looked up and saw Charles now almost to Erik and his kidnappers.

"Alex!" Hank yelled out as Alex ran past her.

"Hey! Hey, asshole!" Alex shouted as Charles landed in the middle of the group.

One mutant turned to him, "All will be revealed, my child"

Hank ran after Alex, "Stop! No!"

Rebecca slammed her body down onto the ground just as she heard everyone else scream, gasp, and groan.

"What happened?"

"Why are we outside?"

Rebecca strained as she slowly got up from the ground, feeling almost sick to her stomach before turning around. Her mouth fell open as she realized that the mansion wasn't even there anymore, it was just a pile of rubble as boards still continued to fall down. She turned back around and mentally counted everyone, noticing by some miracle that they were all outside. Her counting meant nothing when her eyes laid on her father and daughter. Rebecca took off in a run to her family members as she scooped up Serena in her arms and hugged onto her dad in a bone-crushing hug.

When they broke the hug, her father gave her a worried glance as no one seemed to understand why they were all outside of the mansion. Rebecca looked around until she noticed a silver-haired man smiling and looking proud of himself. She immediately recognized him as Peter as she motioned for her father to follow her over to the man. Rebecca was still dazed but wanted to know how Peter knew when to get there on time before the explosion, that was before Serena pulled herself a little bit back to face her mom to ask her a question.

"Where's daddy?"


	9. Prisoners

"Where did you-" Rebecca tried to ask but didn't really know what to say.

Peter cut her off, "I was looking for the Professor, I thought he lived here"

"They took him" Rebecca said in a tight voice.

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca's father asked, "Who took Charles?"

"Daddy's gone?" Serena asked.

"A group of mutants attacked us while we were in Cerebro, they took Charles" Rebecca tried her best to explain to her father before shaking her head, "I don't know where they could've possibly taken him"

"Why would they do that?" her father questioned.

"I don't know, dad!" Rebecca yelled out, "They took him just before the explosion, I didn't get a chance to ask what they were planning on doing with my husband!"

Serena whimpered as tears welled up in her eyes, "Where's my daddy?"

Rebecca shushed her as she started to put Serena's hair, "It's alright, baby"

Her father slowly let out a breath of air that seemed to have built up inside of him as Rebecca held onto her child as she started to cry. She tried her best not to cry with her daughter as well, not just for her but for her students as slowly, everyone was realizing that their headmaster wasn't with them. Rebecca turned and gave her father a wary look as he seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about Charles right now.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "The storage shed is on the corner of the campus, I'm sure there are some supplies that will get us through the night if it comes to that"

"Are you sure?"

Rebecca felt a student tap her on her shoulder as he asked, "Is she going to help us?"

Rebecca looked over to see that Mystique was in her natural form as all of the students were staring at her in wonder before one whispered, "Wow"

"They look up to you" Hank told her the moment their eyes met, "Right now, they need you"

"That's not what they need" Mystique said before she changed her appearance to look like Raven once more.

"Whoa, that's awesome!"

Rebecca opened her mouth to try and encourage Raven to help before she heard rushing gravel coming up the driveway. She turned around and recognized a yellow buggy pulling up with Scott, Jean, Jubilee, and Kurt inside. In any other moment, she would've been pissed to see that students took out a car for a little joy ride but at this moment she was relieved. The kids immediately rushed out as Scott seemed to be the fastest one out of all of them. Seeing one of the Summers boys made Rebecca remembered the blast as she turned and tried to spot Alex in the crowd.

"What happened?" Scott asked, out of breath, "Where's Alex? Where's my brother?"

"Pretty sure I got everybody" Peter shrugged.

Rebecca took a step closer to Peter and whispered, "Alex was closest to the blast"

Scott turned and ran off into the rubble of the mansion before Jean followed him with Kurt not that far behind. Her heart sank as tears brimmed her eyes hoping that he wasn't within the ruins of the mansion. She couldn't see him within the crowd they were in which worried her even more as Rebecca held onto Serena. She couldn't handle losing a friend and certainly not after her husband was taken away from her.

Peter shook his head, "The person closest to the blast was you"

"What?" Rebecca breathed out, "You're sure?"

"Positive"

"Oh, my God"

"Does this happen often or did I just come at the right time?" Peter asked.

"No… just a very bad day"

"Tell me about it"

Serena whimpered, "Mommy, when will daddy come back home?"

"Soon, baby" Rebecca could only lie to calm her daughter down.

"So what now?" Peter asked.

Hank turned to Rebecca, "You're next in charge, Rebecca. We need to plan out what to do. This will be all over the news soon, we need to find a way to get these kids to safety"

"You're right" Rebecca deeply inhaled, "The sooner we get the kids settled, the sooner we will be able to find Charles"

"How are we going to do that? Cerebro's destroyed and no one else is a strong enough telepath" Hank asked.

Rebecca stiffened up, "I don't know"

Serena pointed up, "Mommy, a bird is trying to talk to you"

"What happened?" The yellow bird chirped, "The house is destroyed! Do you need help?"

"That's very kind but thank you" Rebecca said, "We're trying to figure out what to do with the students first"

"You might not have to" the bird said, "Help is on the way. I can hear it"

" _Please remain calm"_ an automated voice overhead said, " _Medical assistance is on the way"_

A helicopter came into view as it flew around the destroyed home and the people outside before the automated voice repeated, " _Please remain calm, medical assistance is on the way"_

Rebecca watched as men came out of the helicopters, feeling like something was a bit off as Moira approached them, "Hey! Moira Mactaggert! CIA! Thank God you're here!"

"That was a fast time response" Hank muttered, "We would've had to wait five more minutes before a police car would come by"

"You're saying that this isn't normal?" Rebecca turned to him, "Are they here to help us?"

"Let's find out"

"Maybe they know where daddy is"

Rebecca nodded slowly, "Maybe"

"Let's hope so" Hank said, "Otherwise I don't even know where to begin"

Rebecca only took one step closer to the men before Raven yelled out, "Wait!"

"Fire!"

Rebecca only saw an unnatural wave rapidly coming over to them, making her grip onto Serena and tried to shield her from the blast. The second she felt the wave hit her and send her off of her feet, the last thing she saw was blue sky before she blacked out.

* * *

Rebecca groaned softly as she rolled on the ground, feeling sore and uncomfortable. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were bright green bars surrounding some sort of room she was in. Confused, she slowly propped herself up onto her elbows and looked around to see Peter, Hank, Raven, and Moira stirring awake. Other than being in an oddly lit room, she felt that something was off but she really couldn't understand what. As she tried to remember, a scream came out from Peter as he immediately shot up onto his feet.

"What?!"

Peter staggered up, "What's wrong with you? Is that going to happen to all of us?"

Hank looked down as he realized he was in his beast form, "No, I just left my meds in the house"

"What happened? Where are we?" Rebecca groaned.

"Hey!" Raven shouted up above.

"Hello, Mystique" a familiar voice said.

Raven mocked, "Major Stryker"

"Colonel Stryker" he corrected, "I wouldn't get too close to the wall, if I were you. It may create some discomfort"

"Serena" Rebecca gasped as she looked around the room and noticed her daughter wasn't in sight before she looked up to Stryker, "Where is my daughter?!"

"Safe" was all that Stryker said.

"Safe?!" Rebecca hollered, "If you did something to her, I swear to you!"

Stryker taunted, "You'll do what?"

"I'm Moira Mactaggert" Moira walked up to the front, "I'm a senior officer at the CIA"

"I know who you are, Agent Mactaggert" Stryker responded.

Moira continued, "You cannot keep me here, in this…"

"Actually, I can" Stryker told her, "A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moscow. That event emanated from exactly where we found you at the home of the world's most powerful psychic. So, you are going to tell me, where is Charles Xavier?"

"It's not him you should be worried about" Moira told Stryker, "There's someone else. Someone more powerful"

"If you let us out of here, we can help you" Raven suggested, even though it sounded noticeably forced.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Stryker challenged, "You can put on any face that you want, but I know who you are. What you are"

The group watched as Stryker took his hand off the button and left the room before Hank asked, "Hey, Moira, um… what did you mean when you said someone more powerful than Charles?"

* * *

Charles groaned as his head pulsed in anguish, immediately realizing that he was not around his friends and wife anymore.

"You're blocking me" Charles stammered, "How?"

Apocalypse walked over, "I can shield their minds from your power. It's one of the many gifts I've acquired throughout the millennia, but to see inside a mind, to control it, that's your gift. You saw it, didn't you? The glory of what's to come"

"You're going to take part in all this killing and destruction?" Charles turned to Erik who stared at him with empty eyes.

"It's all I've ever known" Erik answered.

"No, it isn't" Charles argued, "You've just forgotten"

Erik quickly said, "No, Charles, I remember. Your way doesn't work"

"I've shown him a better way" Apocalypse said, "A better world"

"No, you just tapped into his rage and pain, that's all you've done" Charles turned to the ancient being before turning back to Erik, "I told you from the moment I met you, there is more to you, Erik. There is good in you, too"

"Whatever it is you think you saw in me, Charles… I buried it with my family" Erik told him.

"Charles, you will send a message to every living mind" Apocalypse demanded, "You will tell them that this earth will be laid waste. That it is I, En Sabah Nur, who will wreak this upon them. Now, deliver my message"

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't reach that many people" Charles told him, "I don't have Cerebro"

"You don't need a machine to amplify your powers" Apocalypse scoffed, "You have me"


	10. Voice in our Heads

Rebecca paced impatiently as she felt tears stream freely down her face. Her husband was being held hostage, her daughter was taken away from her, and now she is locked in some kind of mutant holding cell. She walked up the one of the bars, raised up her fist, and got ready to punch when she hesitated. Stryker's warning drifted in her mind, half taunting her and half challenging her. With a sigh of defeat, she dropped down her arm and continued to pace the room and worry about her family.

Moira suddenly appeared in front of her, "Hey"

"Not now, Moira, I don't want to talk about being a mutant" Rebecca told her, "In case you didn't notice, we need to find a way to get the hell out of here"

"I wasn't going to say anything like that" Moira hesitated before she said, "I was going to ask how you're holding up"

"Really?" Rebecca scoffed, "My husband was snatched away from me in my arms and so was my daughter not long after that. I think I'm going to start a world record on how many family members I could lose in the next 24 hours"

"It's not your fault" Moira said kindly, "You didn't know what was going to happen and if you did, you would've been prepared. We all would've been prepared. I'm sure she is somewhere in this facility right now"

"And yet, I can't get to her" Rebecca sighed.

"Listen, the CIA will be looking for me and the second I can even give orders, I will tell them to look for your daughter" Moira said firmly that Rebecca was stunned by the gesture.

"You really think that?"

"What?"

"That she's here. They could've left her with everyone else" Rebecca sighed, "At least I hope they did so that way I knew my father was watching her. It's just the way that Stryker said it made me think that she's here too"

Just thinking about her daughter in a dark room crying her eyes out made Rebecca rub her hands over her face as a sob finally escape her. She felt gentle but firm arms wrap around her and held onto her tight as Moira rubbed her back. The feeling of a hug on this horrible day made it almost feel like a silver lining as she leaned into the woman. When she finally calmed down, Rebecca wiped away the tears streaked on her face as Moira stayed close by.

"We will find her" Moira whispered, "I promise"

Rebecca nodded, "Thank you"

"Anytime" Moira gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "You will be together again with your family"

" _Hear me inhabitants of this world"_ Charles' voice came through her head.

"Charles!"

" _This is a message"_

"I can hear him too" Raven said.

Charles continued, " _A message to every man, woman, and mutant in the world. You have lost your way, but I have returned. The day of reckoning is here. All your buildings, all of your towers and temples will fall. And a dawn of a new age will rise for there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming. This message is for one reason alone. To tell the strongest among you, those with the greatest power… protect those without. That's my message to the world"_

"How was Charles doing that without Cerebro?" Hank asked.

"Doesn't matter" Rebecca said as everyone turned to him, "His message was about destruction until the very last part. I'm guessing Apocalypse wanted to deliver a different kind of message to the world"

"But at what cost?" Raven questioned.

"I don't know" Rebecca shook her head, "But it definitely can't be good"

"We need to get out of here now" Hank said just as the speakers in the cell crackled.

"I know that voice" Stryker spoke up, "It's Xavier, isn't it? What's going on?"

"We don't know!"

"We don't know, bro!"

"Please!" Rebecca took a step closer, "My husband is in danger, someone kidnapped him. We need to get to him, fast!"

"For all I know, this could be a trap" Stryker nodded to her, "You guys could be setting me up. This would be way too easy"

Stryker turned away as Rebecca yelled, "No, wait!"

"Don't waste your breath" Raven said, "He hates mutants more than anyone"

"We still have to try" Rebecca turned to Raven.

"Not with this guy" Raven nodded her chin up, "The second we give up Charles, we're all lost causes"

"We met him before, he used to be with Trask. Logan told us he did something horrible to him" Rebecca said.

"Who?" Raven asked.

Rebecca didn't feel like explaining to Raven who Logan was or why he was so important. She realized the last time something pretty crazy happened in her life, Logan was there. Even though she's been on one mission with the man, she suddenly wanted him by her side. Somehow, knowing that he was from the future made it comforting to know the answers of the questions that bugged her today.

But he wasn't there with them and neither was Charles. She felt only a little bit of hope knowing that he was alive but that hope turned into worry. For all she knew, Charles could be getting tortured right now for delivering the wrong message.

"It's a long story" Hank finally said.

"Well, your friend Logan would be considered the lucky one" Raven mumbled, "Stryker has been dissecting mutants ever since they put Trask behind bars"

"I thought that that died with Trask" Hank let out.

"It should've, but then something happened with Stryker and now he picked up on the work" Raven glared up to the glass, "Trask did it for science, Stryker is doing it for… fun"

Moira stated, "He could be in serious trouble if anyone looks into what he's been doing to mutants"

"Would be if he didn't pay them all off" Raven scoffed, "Some equal rights we have"

A loud alarm suddenly blared from each loudspeaker, making Rebecca jump at the sudden sound. She turned around and craned her neck, trying to see into the other room.

She took another step back before Hank suddenly grabbed her and lurched her forward.

Rebecca turned back around as she noticed she was too close to the green bars. She looked back up to Hank who gave her a small nod. An exhale went through her as she turned back around and tried to figure out what was going on and why the alarms were blaring. Everyone, even Stryker had their attentions on the cameras. She wondered if it were the CIA before another dreadful thought popped into her mind.

"Apocalypse…"

Everyone turned and stared at her as if she had just entered the room before they all exchanged glances. They knew she was right and they knew that if Apocalypse found them in this cell, they would be as good as dead. Rebecca turned to the metal door, shimmied her fingertips in as much as she could and tried to pull it apart. Normally, it would be a piece of cake but Rebecca strained and struggled against the metal.

"We have to get out of here" Moira panicked, "No one will be able to have a fighting chance against them"

"Not in here, we don't" Peter said.

"There has to be a way out" Rebecca gasped as she stepped back.

"It's a holding cell, there is no way out" Raven told her.

Rebecca took a couple of steps back before she moved her fingers in a tut like movement, hoping for some kind of stone would react. But instead, nothing happened, no matter how hard she concentrated on her power. Rebecca glanced back up as she noticed everyone's back was still to them.

She ran a hand through her hair as she wondered if Serena was terrified of the noise. The thought of her daughter screaming at how the alarms were scaring her made her panic.

"There's only one way to get out and that's if Stryker lets us out" Raven stated.

Rebecca hated to admit it, but unfortunately, Raven was right.

"What are they even doing up there?" Moira asked.

"Yeah, I want to know what's going on" Hank sighed.

"Someone's creating a bloodbath" Raven answered.

"But who?" Rebecca asked.

"Who knows but I know it can't be good" Raven shook her head, "Especially for us"


	11. Rescue Mission

"Stryker!" Raven yelled out.

But just like the last couple of times she yelled to get his attention, Stryker ignored it. Her heart sank to the ground as Stryker walked out of the room, not even giving his hostages a glance. Everyone in the cell groaned as Rebecca ran a hand through her hair and kicked a metal beam. She yelped and hissed at the sudden pain she felt, Rebecca wasn't used to feeling pain due to her super strength. With her powers, the metal beam would've easily caved in due to her gift.

"Hey! Stay where you are!" a guard could be heard yelling.

Everyone looked up, trying their best to see what was happening until they heard gunshots. Rebecca gasped and cupped her mouth as she thought by the rounds of bullets that were heard from the other room it made it sound like the person they were firing was for sure dead. Instead, they saw a ray of splattered blood and a man get thrown to the window. Rebecca and everyone else quickly ran over to the window to stand directly under it and completely out of view.

"What the hell was that?!" Moira whispered.

"Don't know" Peter was the first to say, "But I don't want to find out"

"For sure I thought that thing was dead" Hank said from beside her.

Raven shook his head, "Who was that up there?"

"I don't know" Rebecca shook her head, "But I don't like how quiet it sounds up there"

"Stryker's men are dead" Moira questioned more than said that last statement.

The group all looked at each other before slowly they walked out to the center to peek out at the room above. The alarm was still blaring but nothing else seemed to be up there, except a shadow slowly coming into view. Rebecca reached out and gripped onto Hank as she walked closer to him.

"Who is that?" Rebecca stammered.

A blue teenager with a red jacket peered down to them as Hank loosened up, "Kurt"

He pointed to something on the side and said something but no one could hear him as they all let out, "What?"

"We can't hear you" Rebecca said as she pointed to her ear.

He looked down and pressed the button but his voice came in distorted, "Stay away from the-"

"The what?"

"The do-" Kurt made a square motion, "Stay away from the-"

"Get away from the door!" Raven yelled out.

"On three" Kurt said, "One… two…"

A blast shattered the doors, making Rebecca scream out as she cupped her head to protect herself. When the debris cleared, she ran out of the opening to see Scott putting on his glasses and Jean holding onto Serena; the second she saw her daughter, Rebecca raced toward Jean and pulled her out of her arms.

"Mommy!" Serena yelled out as she held onto her, "I was so scared, I didn't know what to do! Then Jean came with her friends and took me away from the bad men"

Rebecca looked over to Jean as she said, "Thank you, Jean. Thank you for finding her"

"It was nothing" Jean blushed.

Rebecca reached out and held onto Jean's hand as she gave it a comforting squeeze. A tear rolled down the side of her cheek as she gave her a nod.

"You did everything I couldn't" Rebecca praised.

"We know where the Professor is" Jean told Rebecca.

Scott turned to her, "I think we might have a way out of here"

"Well, you've been busy"

"We had a little help" Scott said before he turned down the corridor, "Let's go!"

They started running down the hallway before Scott narrowly missed a puff of blue smoke, "Ah! Jesus!"

"Oh, sorry!" Kurt apologized as he materialized.

"This way!" Scott turned right.

Scott stopped and pressed a button on a console, making the metal doors lift up to reveal a jet plane, Hank whispered, "Nice"

"Hey, Hank, do you think you can fly this thing?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, I can figure it out" Hank shrugged.

"Hey, guys" Scott said from the side, "Flight suits"

Raven turned to Hank, "You got your warplane, let's go to war"

Everyone was quiet on the plane as they headed to Cairo, Rebecca kept her arm around Serena throughout the flight, not knowing what to do with her daughter the second they landed until Jean asked Raven, "Were you scared? That day in DC, were you scared?"

"No" Raven said quickly before she hesitated, "But I was scared on my first mission, I was on a plane like this with my friends, about your age. We called ourselves the X-Men"

Raven leaned over to look at Scott, "Your brother was there. We used to call him Havok, he was a real handful but when it came down to it, he was very brave"

Kurt asked, "What happened to the rest of the kids who went with you? The X-men?"

Raven hesitated before she said, "Hank and I are the only ones left, I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you, I'm not a hero"

"Well, you're a hero to us" Jean turned to her, "Seeing you that day on TV changed my life"

"Mine, too" Kurt spoke up.

"Mine, too" Peter told her before correcting himself, "I still live in my mom's basement but, you know… everything else is, uh… oh, it's pretty much the same. I'm a total loser"

Everyone let out a easy laugh from Peter's crack at himself as if gave him some sort of fuel to get everyone to lighten up.

"Not anymore" Rebecca turned to him, "After today, you'll be known as a hero, Peter"

* * *

"This was meant to be the center of the universe before I was betrayed" Apocalypse mused, "Now… it will be"

Charles watched as Apocalypse lifted up his hands as a sandstorm seemed to go through the city of Cairo. He saw a pyramid being built right before his eyes, heard the screaming of people, and even felt their panic from where he was sitting. He tried to block out what was going on but the mass was too great as he looked away. His mind drifted to Rebecca and Serena, wondering if they were safe and what they were doing. He knew his wife more than anything in the world, she loved him so much that she would be willing to challenge Apocalypse head-on if it meant to bring Charles back to her. After what he's seen and felt from this mutant, he prayed that she did the opposite and stayed home. This was a fight he knew she would have to pay with her life.


	12. Cairo

Rebecca absentmindedly stroked Serena's hair as she deeply inhaled. Serena seemed calm for the most part but she could see her daughter started fidgeting with her fingers. She didn't know what to do to make Serena think that everything was okay, even for a four year old, she probably knew something bad was going to happen to Charles. Rebecca prayed that they got there on time but judging by Hank's handle on the plane, she had a feeling they should be coming up to Cairo any minute now. She had flashbacks of DC all over again but this time, she felt more than courage to stand up to the first ever mutant now that he had Charles with him.

When she glanced over to the front, she noticed Raven was staring at the mother and daughter at the end. Rebecca realized that Raven had never once met Serena, probably didn't even know Serena existed until this morning. She could probably see that Serena has the facial features and brown hair of Charles but the deep brown eyes of Rebecca. Raven had a hidden smile on her face as Rebecca wondered if when all of this is over, will she want the chance to get to know her niece.

"What can I do, mom?" Serena asked her, "What can I do to help daddy?"

"You're going to stay here, Serena" Rebecca told her, "Moira can't look after this plane by herself. She's going to need help in making sure no one touches this plane. Can you do that for me? Can you do that so that way I can go and get daddy?"

Serena nodded before pushing herself back onto the seat and folding her arms over her chest. Rebecca knew that her daughter wanted to go outside and find a way to help her father other than staying here with Moira. She just didn't understand that she was too young and didn't know she would create more panic than assurance.

"Seventh wonder, twelve o'clock" Hank reported making Raven get up to go to the front.

Jean spoke up, "He has the Professor in the center of the pyramid. He's going to transfer his consciousness into the Professor, if he does that, he'll have the power to control every mind in the world"

"What the hell is that?" Moira asked as Hank moved the plane around the pyramid.

"It's Erik" Raven answered, making Peter run to the front of the plane, Raven turned and looked to everyone on the plane as she thought up of a plan, "You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid. Get Charles, I'll take care of Erik"

"How are you gonna get through that?" Hank asked as Rebecca finally saw the metal rings slowly moving around some kind of sphere.

Peter turned to Raven, "I can get you in there. I came here for him, let me help you"

"The rest of you, get Charles on this plane and get him out of here" Raven ordered.

"We're not leaving without you!" Kurt argued.

"Don't worry" Peter told him, "We'll catch up"

"Hold on" Hank warned as he started to land the plane.

The second they landed, Rebecca took off Serena's belts before undoing hers. She cupped her daughter's head, sniffed and kissed her hair before handing her over to Moira as the woman brought her daughter to the front of the plane.

Rebecca followed everyone out as Raven directed more orders, "Hank, Rebecca, you go with the kids. Moira will be waiting on the plane"

"Wait" Scott said as everyone turned to him.

"What?" Raven asked.

"Not all of us can fully control our powers" Scott told her.

"Then don't" Raven answered, "You need to embrace them… We all do"

Raven transformed herself into Mystique as Rebecca noticed that the three teenagers saw confidence in her natural form before Peter took her and sped off.

"Let's go. As soon as we get Charles, they will start to attack" Rebecca told them, "We need to make this sudden and discret"

Everyone nodded as they all ran from torn building to torn building. She didn't have the heart to tell them that more than likely the followers already knew that they were here. Rebecca reached out behind her and pressed whoever was behind her to the wall. Hank scoped out the area before he waved his hand out and they all followed him closer to the pyramid. She couldn't help but notice that it was way too silent for four of the strongest mutants to be protecting their master during his most crucial time.

"There's an entrance" Hank pointed at an opening, "It's clear"

Rebecca looked up just as she saw a winged mutant heading their way, "Kurt! Get in there!"

Just as Kurt vanished, Rebecca moved her fingers in a tut-like formation, moving the available stones up to form a barrier. She noticed that her power wasn't the only one as Jean had lifted up wood planks as well from the metal feathers of the other mutant. Rebecca grunted as she sent her stones flying off at great speed back to the winged mutant. He narrowly missed all of them, making Rebecca drop her hands in frustration.

She gasped as she noticed that the winged mutant had noticed Kurt teleported into the pyramid as he turned back around to follow after him. Just as Rebecca was beginning to levitate a huge stone to her left, the man disappeared after Kurt. Rebecca dropped the stone as she turned to Hank before they both gave each other a nod.

"In the pyramid! Move!" Hank commanded.

"Go!" Rebecca said as they all started running for the entrance.

A bolt of lightning near Rebecca's feet made her suddenly stop and see the white-haired female mutant land in front of them. Rebecca watched as the woman lifted up a car with a small tornado, making her turn to Jean and Scott as she tackled them to the ground just as the car flew over their bodies.

Hank let out a roar as he grabbed onto the car as Scott was the first to get up and take off his glasses to hit the woman with his laser eyes.

When the car flew over their heads, both Rebecca and Jean got up as a long, purple energy cut through the car to reveal the last follower. Rebecca swallowed as she noticed that the woman seemed to have set her eyes on Rebecca for a moment. She glanced up to the opening and knew that she couldn't make it into the pyramid without fighting a mutant. Fighting sentinels in DC was one thing but these people are her kind, not knowing that they're just high off of the amplified power Apocalypse gave them. She bit her lip as she took a step back and raised a protective hand over Jean and Scott.

"Oh, God" Rebecca muttered

The white-haired mutant flew up as lightning came down at Hank, Scott, Jean, and her. Rebecca let out a yelp as she turned and ran off to the left, noticing that Scott and Jean went to the right. She wanted to turn and throw something at the woman but that would mean she would have to stop with lightning right on her tail. The second she saw a corner of a building, she drove herself into it as she panted and caught her breath.

A crackle of lightning zapped part of the building above her, making Rebecca scream out and duck as debris fell over her. She used her power as stones levitated around her before she shot them over to her attacker. The woman was caught by surprise as she dodged one, zapped a stone, but wasn't prepared for the third one as it hit her in the chest and forced her to fall to the ground just as she noticed the other one was slowly making her way over to Jean hiding in a corner.

Rebecca ran out, "Hey!"

"What do you want?" the woman asked with her voice dripping malice, "Your husband back?"

As much as she wanted to attack the woman as she let out a deep and menacing laugh, Rebecca knew she couldn't do it. Instead, she deeply inhaled, picked up her chin and straightened herself up to face the woman as she responded:

"I want to challenge you to a fight"


	13. Transference

Rebecca strained as stones flew Psylocke's way, the woman was too stealthy for Rebecca to even hit. She moved almost as if she knew where Rebecca was going to throw her boulders and used them to her advantage. Just as Rebecca threw one square at her chest, she leaped up, stepped onto the boulder and flipped with her psionic energy out. Rebecca moved out just in time before the dagger went through her. She grabbed onto a nearby car and swung it over but like the last time, she drove her dagger into it.

"You're wasting your time" Psylocke taunted, "You should've said goodbye to your husband when you had the chance"

"Not today" Rebecca strained.

"Then you're too late" Psylocke told her.

Rebecca pushed Psylocke away from her as she nearly hit the building behind her, the woman seemed stunned but changed her dagger into a whip. She moved it back and lashed out just as Rebecca ducked away from her and tried to pry the building behind her. Rebecca could only move stones but the building was too intact for her power to work. Psylocke saw what she was trying to do and whipped at Rebecca's ankles before Rebecca leaped up and jumped onto the car at her last defense.

It seemed to work in Psylocke's favor as she had no idea that the woman anticipated that move. The purple energy lashed onto her neck and cut off her circulation, Rebecca grabbed onto it to try and pry it off of her but her strength was no match for the energy. Psylocke wrapped the cord around her wrist and brought Rebecca slowly to her.

Rebecca choked even more as her eyes started to water as she could barely keep them open. She looked up as she could see the heartless face of Psylocke as she tightened the hold around her neck.

* * *

Charles strained against the restraints as he saw some kind of gold liquid working its way up to the platform he was laying on. He tried with all his might to break off the bounds on his wrist just to get away but nothing was working. His arms shook as his wrist started to hurt from trying to break through the cement-like handles.

When the liquid gold reached his body, a purple energy cocoon came over him as he felt the overwhelming presence of Apocalypse in his mind. Charles whipped his head to the side, hoping that it would somehow loosen Apocalypse's hold within him. But the more he did it, the more he felt the presence of Apocalypse seep into his mind and body, it was by far the worst feeling he had ever felt. Still, Charles thrashed his head back and forth to try and get him out of his mind but it almost felt like he was losing control. Panic started to settle within him as he realized that this could be the last moments of his life.

Charles hollered, "Get out. Get out! Get out!"

A light flicker of a memory came into his mind as he remembered Serena at two years old running over to Rebecca. Rebecca picked her up and spun her around as his two girls laughed and turned to Charles as he aimed the camera at them. Charles strained as he tried his best to hold onto that memory, knowing his wife and daughter would have to see him but have Apocalypse's conscious forced inside. He couldn't let that happen as he strained, trying his best to not give into Apocalypse's conscience seep into him.

* * *

Just as Rebecca thought that she would lose conscience and lose her fight, a blue figure grabbed onto Psylocke and threw her up a building.

Hank pulled Rebecca up to her feet, "You alright?"

"Yeah" Rebecca said as she rubbed her neck.

"Wanna do two against one?" Hank suggested.

Rebecca only looked his way before Hank grabbed onto her and they were flying up onto the building Psylocke disappeared on. When they both landed, Psylocke looked like she was struggling to get onto her feet as well. Rebecca moved one way as Hank moved the other in hopes to make her feel outnumbered.

"You both are pathetic!"

Psylocke used her whip as this time Rebecca was ready as she sent a huge stone to her hip, making the woman fall. She let out a grunt as her whip fell short before the battle disappeared and Rebecca was back on the plane.

Rebecca's eyes set on Charles on the ground, bald and bleeding from the side of his head.

"Mommy!" Serena screamed out with tears already streaming down her face as Jean held her.

"Let's go!" Hank said as he ran to the front.

Rebecca ran over to her husband's unconscious body as she moved his limp head onto her lap. The jet started to fire up as Moira and Hank quickly started it up. Rebecca took a cloth and started to dab at the side of her husband's head. The feeling of pressure on his wound didn't wake him which worried Rebecca. She looked up to Hank but noticed that the man was too busy trying to get the team out of there, Rebecca bent down and kissed Charles on the forehead as a tear dropped onto his skin.

"Locked on"

"Here we go"

"Stay with me, sweetie" Rebecca whispered to him.

She picked up her head as Jean scooted closer to Rebecca with Serena on her lap. Serena cried as she moved her father back and forth on his chest but nothing happened. The one thing that Rebecca could hold onto was the fact that she could see Charles' chest slowly rising and falling. Rebecca protectively wrapped her arms around her husband as she prayed that they get out of Cairo fast.

A thud was heard overhead as Moira exclaimed, "What the hell was that?"

"Kurt!" Rebecca turned to the teenager as purple energy swords pierced the top of the plane, "Everyone, grab hold of Nightcrawler!"

"I've never done it with this many people" Nightcrawler told her.

"Get us out of here" Rebecca said firmly.

Kurt reached out and grabbed onto Charles and Serena while everyone else reached out and grabbed onto him. Jean moved the controls straight down as Kurt tried to teleport all of them out of there. Each time the teeneager did it, they ended up still being on the plane.

She looked over as she noticed the winged mutant was in the plane with them but was struggling to get to his feet. Rebecca knew they only had a matter of time before he actually did got a hold of his footing.

"Kurt, hurry!"

"Kurt!" Jean yelled out.

Rebecca turned and looked over to the window as she noticed the ground getting closer by the second.

Suddenly, everyone collapsed onto the ground as Rebecca jammed her eyes shut, thinking that she might hear an explosion. When nothing came, she opened her eyes to see that they were all safe. She looked around as she noticed they were in a room that had been spared from the damage of Apocalypse's demise. A loud explosion was heard not that far off from them, making Rebecca jump and turn in that direction. Serena let out a whimper as she ran over to her mother and threw her arms around her shoulders.

"Why isn't dad waking up?" Serena asked.

Rebecca looked down to her husband as she realized his face was still motionless as when she first saw him. A slight fear zapped through the back of her mind as she wondered if Apocalypse's transference was complete. For all she knew, she could be holding onto the enemy. With Charles on her lap and Serena wrapped around her neck, she moved her daughter slightly away from her husband, she wasn't going to take any chances.


	14. Apocalypse

"Is everyone okay?" Rebecca looked around the room.

Scott turned to Rebecca, "Something's wrong with Kurt"

"It's his energy" Jean answered before Rebecca could move to him, "He's drained"

"Get out" Charles said warily before his eyes opened wide and he yelled out, "Get out!"

"Charles, it's okay" Rebecca gripped onto her husband's flailing arms, "You're with us"

"Daddy!"

Charles looked around before Serena threw herself onto her father as he wrapped one arm around her and the other gripping onto Rebecca. He deeply inhaled and let out a sob as he turned and kissed Serena's head. Rebecca leaned her body all the way down and hugged him as well with not even a moment's hesitation from Charles as he kissed her neck, under her chin. She took in a shaky breath as she thanked God that her husband wasn't taken away from her and she got a chance to get him back. Rebecca straightened back up as she gently picked up her husband to bring him to the mattresses in the corner.

"I thought I was never going to see you again" Charles whispered so that Serena couldn't hear them, "I was so terrified of what he would-"

"Let's not talk about it" Rebecca told him as she eased him down, "We're together now, all of us"

"You did a very brave thing in coming after me" Charles told her.

"You're my husband, Charles, I would stop the world from turning if I could for you" Rebecca said to him as she looked him right in the eye.

They held onto each other's hand as Rebecca leaned her forehead onto his, "I love you"

"I'm going to check Kurt out before I scope out the land" Hank said from the center of the room, "Maybe if there's a stray animal around you can communicate with it to help us out a little. It's a long shot but anything works right now"

Rebecca nodded before she heard, "Charles!"

Her blood ran cold as she heard Apocalypse yell out, "Show yourself! Charles!"

Serena whimpered as she flung herself onto her father once more as he whispered, "It's alright, darling, he's not going to take me away"

Charles looked up with a dazed look on his face, making Rebecca ask, "What is it?"

Before Charles could say anything, a loud holler in pain was heard outside, making everyone turn towards the window. Rebecca knew who it was as she closed her eyes and her breath was lodged in her throat.

"Peter"

Rebecca looked down to Serena as their young daughter started to cry and hold onto her father tighter. Charles held her close and stroked the back of her hair as he whispered small comfortings, telling her over and over that he wasn't going to leave. Rebecca looked back over to the window as she heard Apocalypse hollering for Charles to come out into the open. A small fiber in her being wanted to hold onto Serena and comfort her as well, but a bigger part of her, the maternal instinct was telling her to fight for her family.

Rebecca deeply inhaled as she told Charles, "Stay with Serena"

"What… no, Rebecca don't do anything stupid!" Charles let out as he gripped onto her.

She turned back to him as she said, "I have to, he's terrorized my family for the last time"

Rebecca got up and easily pushed off Charles' arms as she could tell he was pulling her down with all of his strength. She turned and only looked to Hank so see if he would challenge her but she knew that he always thought logically. He knew that if Rebecca was going out to fight, then that meant Hank should stay inside and be his last defense.

When she got out into the back alley of the building, Rebecca lifted up a plaque of building large enough to levitate her as she flew it around the the other side to make sure that Apocalypse didn't know which building she came out of.

She jumped down from the rock and threw it over to Apocalypse as he stumbled back from Peter. Rebecca moved her fingers in the intricate motion as she moved as many stone objects nearby to smash down onto Apocalypse. She grabbed onto a car and grunted as she threw it at the ancient mutant as she slowly made her way over to Peter as Apocalypse stumbled more and more away. She waved her hands once more to use her other gift onto him but just before the bricks hit him, they turned to sand and immediately out of her control. Rebecca suddenly felt her body sink into a sitting position on the ground next to Peter.

"How will you use your own gifts if your hands won't work" Apocalypse asked.

Before she could react, a sharp and excruciating pain went through her fingers as she lifted up her head and screamed to the clouds above. She looked down and saw most of her fingers were dislocated in very odd ways. Rebecca closed her eyes as she felt the burning pain course through her hands as she bowed herself down. A hand reached out, grabbed onto the back of her head, and yanked her up as Apocalypse stared down at her with Psylocke slowly coming towards them with her sword in hand.

"No!" Rebecca looked to Psylocke, "Please!"

"End her" Apocalypse's voice echoed out.

Psylocke spun around her sword as she stared back at her as she readied her weapon. Rebecca slammed her eyes shut before she heard a grunting noise followed with a slash. She opened her eyes to see Apocalypse had a slashed throat but wasn't fazed by the wound.

He reached out and grabbed onto Psylocke and lifted her high up off the ground. Rebecca watched as the woman choked before Psylocke faded and Raven appeared in her natural form.

"The great hero" Apocalypse taunted her, "You are feeble, just like the others"

" _Rebecca!"_ Charles' voice spoke through her mind, " _Oh, my darling, I can feel your pain"_

Rebecca gasped as she bowed her head, " _Charles, don't do anything! Stay with our daughter! If you come out of hiding this was all for nothing"_

"Charles! Come!" Apocalypse yelled out, "Rescue your weaklings! Give your life for theirs"

"No" Rebecca sobbed out, hoping he could hear her.

"Damn, romantic fool" Apocalypse looked down to her, "Your life means nothing to me. Maybe killing you is the leverage I need"

"Charles!" Apocalypse yelled out, "Will you do nothing!"

Apocalypse suddenly exhaled as he dropped Raven down to the ground beside her, in the back of her mind, she knew that it was Charles that was doing this to him.

" _Charles, what are you doing?"_ Rebecca whispered but nothing came.

Whatever he was doing seemed to be working on Apocalypse as he seemed dazed and lightheaded from whatever Charles was doing in his mind.

Rebecca grunted as she tried to pull herself up from the dirt but the ground she was in was buried waist deep. Without the help of her hands, she was just stuck in front of the ancient mutant just waiting for her death. She strained as she tried to pick herself up from the ground as Peter tried to do the same.

"Mmm" Apocalypse looked up with confidence.

"No…" Rebecca whispered.

Apocalypse lifted up his hand to the building behind Rebecca as the wall started to drift away to reveal everyone hiding in the room.

The ancient mutant smirked as he slowly walked around her as Rebecca reached out and wrapped her arms around his leg, tried to slow him down. Apocalypse reached down as he grabbed onto her neck in a lethal way, getting ready to end her life.

Rebecca closed her eyes as she wished that she didn't have to die in front of her daughter when something landed near her that made Apocalypse stop. She turned and looked over to the side to see a metal beam landed not that far off from her when something else landed on the other side. Her eyes drifted up to the sky as Magneto levitated over to the pair, making Apocalypse turn to his follower.

"You betray me?" Apocalypse asked Erik.

"No" Erik said, "I betrayed them"

Erik lifted up his hands as every metal thing that was in the rubble slowly started to rise. Apocalypse snarled and stepped over to Magneto before a ray of metal slammed down onto him. Rebecca grunted as she turned her head away as she buried her head as much as she could with her arms, afraid that the a piece of metal will fly off and hit her. She yelped in pain as she noticed her instinct was to move stones to help her but she couldn't with her dislocated fingers that were already started to swell and bruise.

"Mommy!"

Hearing Serena scream out for her, made Rebecca gasp as it almost felt like a breath of fresh air hit her. It was something she couldn't explain before she turned and looked to Serena standing on the ledge with green eyes instead of her normal brown, staring back at her. Serena moved out her hand in the direction of her mom as Rebecca felt her energy come back, if not stronger than before. She waved out her hand and was suddenly amazed that she didn't have to use the motions to break off the earth around her. It was almost as if Serena was giving her mother the strength she needed to get her out of the pile of earth she was in.

Rebecca lifted up her hands as she slowly straightened herself off of the ground and waved them over to Apocalypse as gravel, stone, and earth was sent crashing down on him. A ruby laser beam came in from the other side as Scott joined in on the ambush while Hank rescued Mystique and Peter. She grunted as she felt Serena's energy fading away making her want more than anything to turn to see if her daughter was alright. Instead, she chose to fight on as she couldn't help but be proud that her daughter's mutant power was finally awoken deep from inside of her.

"Thank you, sweetheart" Rebecca whispered.


	15. Hope

A throbbing dull pain started to pulse through her head as a headache started to sink in. Rebecca strained but still kept using her abilities to eventually gain the upper hand in this fight. With Magneto, Scott, and Rebecca all throwing everything they got at the mutant, his force field was still up and made it hard to penetrate him. She glanced down to her crooked fingers as she saw the red bruise starting to turn purple and swelling. Her fingers had gone past the point of pain as numbness radiated from her dislocated fingers.

"We can't stop him" Rebecca let out.

* * *

"Jean" Charles coughed up blood as he lay on the floor, "Help me!"

Charles slowly got up as he tried to move to the door but felt pain radiating from his back as Apocalypse punched him down to the floor. Charles let out a loud groan as his body was pinned to the floor. The ancient mutant twisted his fist deeper into Charles back, making him yell out in more pain. He tried to fight the being off but Charles felt for the first time that he was running out of energy.

* * *

Rebecca gasped as she noticed Hank tried to jump on top of Apocalypse but the mutant saw him coming and sent Hank flying into a building. Her friend laid there unconscious as Rebecca turned and pushed out her stone power more, trying to bury the ancient mutant. She felt something warm drip down from her nose before she tasted blood on her lips.

"Hank!" Scott yelled from the side, "Hank!"

Rebecca only took one look in Scott's direction before she felt herself being flown off to the side with the others. She screamed out in pain as she landed hands first before her body collapsed onto her fingers, making Rebecca quickly roll off of them.

* * *

"It's over, Charles" Apocalypse said into his ear, "You're finished, you're mine now"

Charles struggled as he said, "You will never win"

"And why is that?" Apocalypse asked.

"Because you are alone" Charles told him, "And I am not!"

Charles looked up as the doors to Cerebro opened and a young teenager with fiery red hair emerged as she stood in the hallway. Jean stared down Apocalypse as he slowly moved his fist off of Charles to turn his attention on Jean.

"Let go" Charles whispered, "Unleash your power, Jean. No fear"

"Unleash your power!" Charles screamed from the floor, "Let go, Jean! Jean, let go!"

* * *

An explosion came from high above as a shrill scream was heard from the building where Charles, Moira, and Jean were.

Rebecca looked up, expecting the worst but not preparing herself to see Jean consumed in flames in the shape of a bird. She looked over to Apocalypse as for once since she's met him, looked surprised and nearly defeated. His armor was completely off making him an easy target for Magneto as he sent down every sharp metal object down onto him. Hank ran up and punched Scott out of the wall he was in as the teenager immediately took off his sunglasses and aimed it at Apocalypse. Hank turned and picked Rebecca off the ground and examined her fingers before looking down at her.

She stiffened up as she realized that Hank was going to have to put her fingers back together. Rebecca shrank herself into his arms and jammed her eyes shut before a painful popping sound happened in one of her fingers. She let out a scream as she tried to move away but Hank held her there as he popped all of her fingers back as fast as he could. When he was finished, he shrank them both down onto the ground as he rocked Rebecca back and forth in some sort of comfort.

Hank muttered, "He's getting away"

Rebecca looked up as she noticed Apocalypse in his purple teleporting bubble, ready to disappear on them. A bright flash of light erupted from the sky as lightning bolts shattered his teleportation getaway as the white-haired follower suddenly appeared, helping the others in destroying him. Jean shrieked as the firebird she was held in expanded as Rebecca and Hank watched Apocalypse slowly die in front of them.

"He is done for" Rebecca commented.

Apocalypse lifted his head back as he let out a moaning like scream as his body drifted away in dust. Jean, Scott, Magneto, and the follower all stopped their power as the skeleton of Apocalypse shattered onto the ground.

The first mutant was defeated.

Rebecca smiled to Hank before they both looked up over to the second floor of the building. She held onto him as Scott went and joined them. Hank growled as he jumped up, lifting the two up off of the ground and landing on the second floor. She grinned to her family when suddenly it was twisted into a knot, she saw her daughter crying on Charles' arm as Moira crouched down and tried to revive him. Rebecca gasped as she ran over to her husband and sat on the other side with Serena.

"Charles! Charles!" Moira kept yelling out.

"We've lost him"

"Dad?"

"No, Charles" Rebecca sobbed as she shook her head, "Don't leave us"

Jean spoke from behind them, "No, he's not. I can still feel him"

Rebecca held Serena on her lap as the teenager slowly walked over and knelt down beside her husband. Jean placed a hand on the side of his face, like Charles' would've as she closed her eyes. Rebecca watched in amazement before Charles deeply inhaled as a smile widened on his lips. A wave of relief flooded over her as she saw her husband moving once more.

Charles inhaled, "Mmm"

"Thank you, Jean" he whispered.

"Charles?" Moira asked, "Charles, do you know where you are?"

"I'm in a garden" Charles answered, "In Seattle, where it all began. Staring at the most beautiful and delicate woman I have ever seen"

Rebecca chuckled as she shook her head, "Now is not the time to play around"

"I'm not" Charles laid his eyes on her and smirked.

"That was when my life changed for the better" Charles smiled, "That's when I knew that hope was worth fighting for"

"Hold on!" Kurt yelled from behind them before he looked around and said, "What did I miss?"

"We will tell you on our way back" Jean said to him as she got up.

"You slept through a lot, but if you really want to know, we defeated the first mutant" Scott smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Serena bounced up to look at him, "And I got my first power!"

"I know, I am so proud of you!" Rebecca squealed as she hugged her daughter down and kissed her on the top of her head, "That was amazing!"

"That's my little girl" Charles smiled proudly at Serena.


	16. Peace

Rebecca stayed by her husband's side as they waited for the plane to be rebuilt by Erik. Charles slowly pet Serena's hair as for once in their marriage, they agreed on letting Charles use his power on her. He sent Serena off into a sleep as they both knew that even though she was happy to know she finally has a power, it was too much stress for a four year old to handle. Rebecca sniffed as she lifted the handkerchief from her nose and examined her nose bleeding as finally it seemed to have slowed to a stop but unfortunately, her headache didn't. She grimaced as she pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to block out both her headache and the sore feeling within her knuckles.

Charles turned to her, "Are you alright?"

Rebecca smiled and looked at him, "As soon as I take pain medication, I will be"

Charles clucked his tongue lightly as he looked to his wife in a pitied way. He placed his hand within hers and gently rubbed his thumb up and down her skin. Rebecca smiled as she looked up at Charles, remembering the first time she realized she had a crush on her boss. She glanced down to Serena as she nestled in her father's lap, completely at peace, knowing that the worst is over for them.

"Her power's must've been awoken when she realized you were in danger" Charles whispered.

Rebecca nodded absentmindedly as she remembered the feeling of energy coursing through her body. Even though it was a small dose of it, she felt almost invincible, knowing that she could move stones just by the wave of her hand. She didn't want to admit it but she hoped that she didn't have to move her fingers in those unique patterns again.

"You should've felt it, Charles" Rebecca mused, "It was almost as if Serena not only gave me strength but-"

"Amplified your powers" Charles finished for her.

"Was that one of his gifts?" Rebecca turned to Charles, "Was that how you could reach all those minds at once?"

"She's not going to turn into him" Charles shook his head, "Rebecca, she's seen what he did and it terrified her. If anything, she would use her powers in a battle for good"

"I know she's not, but what do you call that power?" Rebecca asked.

"Psionic strength" Charles answered in less than a heartbeat.

"A combination of both of our powers" Rebecca scoffed, "I guess that calls us even on the whole what kind of power she would have. What do you say?"

"Still… it's an internal power" Charles rose an eyebrow to her.

"Could be used as external to" Rebecca argued.

"How so?" Charles questioned, "Did you see a wave come over you when she used her power?"

"Her eyes turned green" Rebecca stood her ground.

Charles scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Okay, her eyes turn green. I press my fingers to my temples so I guess that makes me under the external power factor too"

Rebecca couldn't say anything but break out into a laugh as Charles chuckled soon after her. She shook her head as she felt almost a wave of peace overwhelm her, knowing it was safe to laugh and enjoy the moment.

"I'm glad we get to live to see another day" Rebecca whispered, "I was terrified to know that he was going to take you away from me. I wouldn't know what I would do if I saw you but knew it was Apocalypse"

"And now you never will have to"

"I love you"

Charles smiled as he stared at her deeply, "And I love you too, Rebecca"

"So what now?" Rebecca sighed.

"That is what I was wondering" Charles let out.

"We don't have to come up with a decision now" Rebecca told him, "Let's wait until we go home"

"About that" Erik said as he entered the room, "The jet's been assembled and we're just about get it ready to turn it back to New York"

"Thank you, old friend"

Erik nodded before he said, "I like to ask a favor of you. I know it might sound odd after all of this. It's not for me though, I promise you. I just need you to take this into consideration"

"What?"

"A recruitment"

Erik looked over his shoulder as the white-haired female follower slowly walked in, playing with her cape as she slowly made her way into the room.

"This is Storm" Erik introduced, "She was like me in this sort of situation. Apocalypse persuaded us to join his team using our weaknesses. She's just a child and didn't know any better about what she was doing. It was when Apocalypse was making his temple that she started having her doubts. Is there a place for her in your school?"

"There's always a place" Rebecca got up and walked over to Storm, "My name is Rebecca Xavier. Nice to meet you"

Storm glanced over to Erik before looking at Rebecca, "That's it?"

"What?" Rebecca asked.

"I attacked you" Storm told her, "I tried to… kill you and you just leave it in the past?"

"You said it yourself, Storm"

"What's past is past"

Storm looked back to Erik before he said, "I told you they are really forgiving people"

"My friends call me Storm" the young teenager reached out and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you. Thank you for understanding"

"It's our job to" Rebecca waved it off.

Erik turned to Charles, "She's an orphan and doesn't have any place to go. I'd take her in but… I'm not sure where I stand with the world this time. So I turned to the next best thing"

"I'm the next best thing?" Charles rose an eyebrow.

"Well, you do live in a school all year round" Erik teased.

"Speaking of school, last I checked, your _old friend_ blew it up" Rebecca looked over to Erik, "Feel like doing charity work?"

Erik smirked, "I have to start somewhere"


	17. Home

Hank hovered the aircraft for what felt like forever to Rebecca as she anxiously waited to land. Already she had wondered what became of the school during their absence and if the explosion was ever reported on the news. But to see everyone accounted for with set up tents around the lawn made Rebecca relax a little as she carried Charles over to the group. The students were stunned to say the least but quickly ran over to the teachers that had just arrived. Rebecca's father came marching up across the field as he placed a hand on Charles' shoulder and smiled broadly at him.

"Good to have you back, Charles" her father smiled.

"It's good to be back" Charles looked around, "I'm glad you took care of things around here while we were gone"

"I had a little bit of help" he admitted.

"Thank you for keeping the kids together" Rebecca said, "Very clever idea to set up tents around the property"

"Honestly, if we didn't have enough tents then motels were going to be our next move" her father placed his hands on his hips.

"But what about food?" Rebecca worried, "How did you feed them all?"

"You have a garden and I used to take you and Otto camping with just fruits and vegetables" her father rose his eyebrows at her.

Rebecca side nodded, "Very educational in a not very great moment"

"It got their mind off of the explosion" Rebecca's father said.

"Uncle Otto!" Serena screamed out from behind them.

Rebecca watched as her daughter ran past her parents and into the crowd to a young man running up to her. Otto, Rebecca's brother, picked her up and spun her around as he made his way over to the pair. Behind him, Rebecca's mother walked with a wheelchair in tow. It almost felt like a dream as she watched her whole family come together in her time of need.

"Told you I got some help" her father said, "I was just grateful to know that they were nearby"

"Mom!" Rebecca gasped, "Wow, I'm stunned! Thank you for coming"

Her mother reached out and hugged both Rebecca and Charles at the same time, "I had to come here after hearing my son's school burning down"

"Thank you so much" Charles smiled to his wife's mother.

"We were planning on surprising you by dropping by but I guess the surprise went back to us" Otto said.

Rebecca nodded, "Believe me, you wouldn't imagine what kind of day we had. I'm just glad to be back home"

"Well, that seems to be the big problem right now" Rebecca's father glanced over to the rubble.

"I wouldn't put it that way just yet" Rebecca smiled, "We got a few tricks up our sleeves"

"Erik and Jean are going to build the school again" Serena told Otto.

Otto looked surprised, "Oh really? How are they going to do that?"

A sound of gravel moving and a rumbling sound echoed as the family turned to look down the driveway. Four trucks drove by with Erik leading them in the first car filled with metal bars and wooden planks. The students gawked as they each whispered to one another what was Erik, Scott, Jean, and Moira doing with a truckful of equipment.

"Is that who I think it is?" her father asked from behind her, "I thought you said he was a fugitive. He tried to kill the President"

Rebecca turned to the wheelchair that her mother had taken out and gently placed Charles down onto it. He gave her a nod before reaching out and holding onto her hand as he turned to his in-laws.

"We wouldn't be here today if he didn't help us" Charles answered.

"It's true" Rebecca chimed in, "We were on the losing side with Apocalypse ready to take back Charles before Erik came in. A lot has happened but the point is, we came out standing because of him betraying Apocalypse"

"And me!" Serena chimed in, "I have a power just like daddy's"

All eyes turned to Serena, "Really? You can read minds?"

Serena became confused, "I forgot what it was called but it was so righteous! I gave mommy strength when the bad man hurt her fingers"

"Your fingers?" her mother stepped up and lifted up Rebecca's hands, "Oh my gosh, Rebecca, are you alright?"

Her father was right beside her, "Those look like they've been dislocated. Rebecca, what happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" Rebecca brushed it off.

"That doesn't look like it was fine" her father lectured, "Those bruises practically consume your fingers. He must've gotten pretty close to breaking them"

"But he didn't, thanks to Erik intervening on time" Rebecca told her parents.

"Also, thanks to Serena who gave her psionic strength. Rebecca was able to move stones without her unique movements" Charles informed them.

"Right on, baby girl" Otto gave his niece a high-five, "You're a superwoman now"

"No way!" Serena scrunched up her face, "I want to be an X-man!"

Rebecca and Charles looked to each other as they both mirrored pride within their faces for their daughter.

"Look!" a student said from beside them.

The family turned and watched as Erik levitated from the ground, bending the metal to his will as he moved them in the direction of the house. Jean waved out her own hands as she used her telekinetic powers to help aid him. Rebecca couldn't help but become amazed as she watched her home being built from the ground up once more. A certain kind of excitement flood over her as the thought of starting new felt perfect for the moment. She felt her hand being moved to Charles as he gently kissed her hand and looked up to her.

"That's something you don't see everyday" Otto commented.

"Welcome to the School for the Gifted" Rebecca smiled, "This could be an everyday thing for us. Just hopefully with less explosions"

"With our luck, that definitely won't be the last one" Charles spoke up.

"It's good to know I won't be called in as the handyman for the entire house" Rebecca's dad said as he folded his arms over his chest as he watched Erik construct the house.

"Or spend money on the home, do you know how long this would've taken with…" her mother cut herself off.

"Don't worry mom, I think it'd be cool being a mutant too" Otto smiled to her.

Serena beamed, "It is!"

Otto turned to the little girl in his arms and kissed her on the cheek. Rebecca smiled to her family, happy to know that they came in her father's time of need. She turned back to the house and noticed that the first floor was almost complete. Rebecca looked around at the students that now gathered and watched their school being rebuilt once more.

For once, the students didn't seem scared of Jean or mock her but they all gawked at her power. She smiled as she hoped that this meant that no one would bother bullying the teenager ever again. Only a handful knew how powerful this young woman truly was and shouldn't be taken lightly.

"I didn't know that Jean could do all that"

Rebecca looked over to the students as they gave her the same look that they gave Mystique not even the other day. They were starting to look up to Jean and probably for once, starting to accept her.

"She'll be alright" Charles whispered.

Rebecca looked down to Charles as he stared at her knowingly, she gave him a small smile.

"I know that" Rebecca commented, "She has Scott and Kurt now"

An applause was heard all around as the Xavier's turned and noticed the mansion was rebuilt. Erik turned and slowly flew down as the students continued to applaud him. Jean turned around as Kurt and Scott came up beside her with their arms draped around her shoulders. Jubilee couldn't help but lift up her hands and send out fireworks dancing all over head. The students all turned to the Xaviers as they looked to the married couple for guidance.

Rebecca glanced back down to her husband as he shared a glance with her. She went behind his wheelchair as Otto placed Serena on Charles' lap. Together as a family, Rebecca pushed her husband and daughter over to the front door. She passed the makeshift path that everyone created as they all shared the same enthusiasm of seeing their home once destroyed now restored.


	18. Road to Recovery

"Still experiencing pain?" Hank asked.

"It comes and goes, worse in the mornings" Rebecca rubbed her knuckles.

"Good thing you're friends with a complete and total genius" Hank smiled as he took something off of his desk, "Try these on"

Rebecca glanced down to a pair of brown gloves, without hesitation, she slipped them on. She gasped when she felt how comfortably warm it was in the gloves but also a massaging sensation around her joints and knuckles. There was a dull pain going through her fingers but it was the kind of pain you knew would help in the long run. Rebecca glanced back up to Hank and smiled to him as the beast smiled back, knowing his experiment worked. Even though the color wasn't something she would normally wear, she would proudly wear them just to take the pain away.

"These are incredible" Rebecca turned to him, "Thank you so much, Hank!"

Hank nodded, "Anytime, but there are a few things I want to go over with you during your recovery"

Rebecca looked up, "And what's that?"

"Keep these on with only four hour breaks for right now, I built in circulation so the gloves won't feel uncomfortable" Hank told her, "In the meantime, no matter what, do not use your stone manipulation power for a good five weeks. The unique patterns you move with your hands could cause more strain on your fingers so rest them. As for your headaches, I believe what happened is that when Serena gave you strength you already were out of energy so using both hers and yours caused a physical strain on your body"

Hank reached out, grabbed a bottle of prescribed meds and handed them to Rebecca, "Take these and rest your body for a full three days"

"Three days?" Rebecca repeated.

"What? You want seven days off?" Hank asked, "I can make that happen"

"No, three days are the best" Rebecca smiled to her friend.

"Good" Hank nodded, "And don't worry so much about it, Banshee nearly lost his voice when we came back from Cuba. It'll return. Right now, just relax and let someone take over your classes for right now. Take this moment to eat, sleep, and be with Charles"

"Alright" Rebecca placed a hand on his arm, "You're the best, Hank"

Hank beamed, "Anytime"

* * *

Rebecca smiled and nodded to a passing student before she turned the corner and opened up the door to her room. When she got in there, she noticed Charles was sitting in front of the mirror, looking at his head from every angle he could turn. Rebecca gave a small sigh as she closed the door and walked over to her husband, placed hands on the side of his head and bent down. Rebecca closed her eyes and kissed the top of Charles' head as if she was kissing his lips, slow and intimate before she straightened up and sat down next to him on a nearby bench.

"I don't need to read minds to know what's going on in yours" Rebecca told him.

"It's just a big change" Charles glanced back to the mirror, "All those bald jokes really got to me in the end. It's already been a couple of days and my hair hasn't grown back"

Rebecca shook her head, "That doesn't bother me"

Charles deeply inhaled as he stared at her, "It amazes me every single day what you put yourself through. You now are married to not only a handicapped man but a bald one. I always fear in the back of my head that you will leave me, that this strains our marriage for something that I can't control. Still, each and everyday, you smile and stare at me like I'm the only man in the world. How do you do it?"

"Because I don't let society justify my life" Rebecca told him, "If I did, then they wouldn't accept us as mutants. I would rather marry a bald, handicapped man whom I love then a walking full set of hair prick"

Charles laughed as he looked to her, "I'm very lucky to have found you then"

"Just about" Rebecca shrugged, "Now are you going to kiss your wife?"

Charles only smiled before placing his hand on the back of her head, drawing her in, crashing their lips onto each others. A burning feeling rose inside her chest, almost like it was the first time they kissed. Rebecca grabbed onto Charles' shirt and drew him in closer as they deepened the kiss.

A sharp pain jabbed into her head as she winced, making Charles break the kiss, "What is it?"

"It's my head again" Rebecca sighed.

"What did Hank say about your headaches?" Charles asked, "Did he give you medication?"

Rebecca nodded as she placed the pills on the table, "I already took them before leaving his lab. He told me to rest for three days"

Charles looked at her, "Then I believe that is what you should be doing"

"But what about Serena?" Rebecca asked.

"Right, well about that…" Charles stopped, "Raven is spending the day with her"

Rebecca glanced up to see if Charles was just poking fun with her but she noticed that he was dead serious.

"I thought that Mystique had her first class today" Rebecca said.

"Later this afternoon" Charles told her, "She wanted to get the chance to know her niece. Serena even told me how Raven agreed to sleep in her room for a little sleepover"

"Really?" Rebecca was impressed as she smiled, "You must be so happy to hear that. Raven wanting to stay and teach a class, getting to know Serena, even moving back into her old room"

Charles smiled, "It does, indeed"

"I'm glad she's here" Rebecca agreed, "I'll finally get to speak with her. I feel like I've always heard you talk about her but never really got to know her"

"Well, you have that time to finally get to know my sister. Now… Lie down" Charles said firmly and nodded to their bed.

Rebecca only nodded as she walked over to her side and laid down as she heard Charles' wheelchair slowly following her. She glanced over to him as he pulled himself onto the bed and sat down next to her.

"But what about my classes?" Rebecca asked.

"Already taken care of" Charles told her.

"Of course it is"

"Rest your body" Charles pet her head, "You took quite the toll back in Cairo. You've taken care of me ever since the first day you set foot on these grounds, and now it's finally my turn to take care of you"

Rebecca smiled, "Funny how the tables have turned"

"We've finally come to a full circle" Charles smiled before he noticed something, "Rebecca, what are-"

Rebecca easily flipped Charles onto his side of the bed, "There, now you will have to rest with me for a while. Hank said only to take it easy on my stone control, never said anything about my strength. I can make you stay here with me for as long as I like"

Charles didn't know what to say as he chuckled and draped his arm around Rebecca's shoulders as she nestled her head into his chest. He leaned down and kissed her hairline as he hugged her with as much strength as he had. Rebecca moved her head up and smiled up to Charles' blue eyes before leaning in and kissing him. They gave each other little kisses like they used to when they first got together before Rebecca finally felt the pain medication sinking in. Her eyes drifted back up to Charles as he smoothed a piece of her hair out of her face.

He ran his hand up and down her arms in a way of comfort, making Rebecca drift off even more. She fought to keep her eyes opened as she looked up to her husband as he smiled down to her, knowing what the massaging was doing to her. Rebecca deeply inhaled before she lifted her chin and received one last, slow and lazy kiss from her husband. She moved her head down as she closed her eyes, feeling Charles kiss her head repeatedly as Rebecca realized; her home was never the mansion, or her parents house back in Seattle, her home was Charles.


	19. Soundtrack

_Honestly, I can't thank you guys enough for the love and support you had throughout this trilogy! It was an amazing ride for me but it was worth it to see all of your reviews! I actually want to say thank you for the constant demand of Serena Xavier! That was never my intention but with so many people wishing for her, I had to and I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions I've made; listening to awesome fans like you guys! Thanks for sticking with the Psionic Strength Trilogy and I hope to hear from you guys in future stories! :)_

 _ **Danny's Song- Loggins and Messina**_

 _ **Never Going Back Again- Fleetwood Mac**_

 _ **Country Road- James Taylor**_

 _ **Take Me Home, Country Roads- John Denver**_

 _ **Your Song- Elton John**_

 _ **Leather and Lace- Stevie Nicks**_

 _ **American Pie- Don McLean**_

 _ **Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright**_

 _ **Can't You See- The Marshall Tucker Band**_

 _ **Wagon Wheel- Old Crow Medicine Show**_

 _ **Rocket Man- Elton John**_

 _ **Want to hear the soundtrack?**_ _Go onto and type in Animal Urges were you will see my icon and the soundtrack to this story will be waiting there just for you! :)_


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